(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on U.S. and European allies to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons against Russia, saying his military’s cross-border incursion had exposed the threat of Kremlin retaliation as “illusory.”
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The two-week operation to seize Russian territory in the Kursk region would have been seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin just a few months ago as crossing “the strictest of all red lines,” Zelenskiy said in a speech to Ukrainian diplomats Monday night. “The whole naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines with regard to Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has collapsed these days.”
Ukrainian forces now control more than 1,250 square kilometers (483 square miles) of Russian territory and will continue to expand their presence in the Kursk region, Zelenskiy said. The claims could not be independently verified.
The invasion, which he said was planned in the utmost secrecy — “no one knew about our preparations” — would have been unnecessary if Ukraine’s Western partners had allowed it to strike Russian airfields and military bases with long-range weapons, Zelenskiy said. That would have allowed Putin to continue attacking Ukraine and “evade the search for peace” to end the war, he argued.
The Russian military has repeatedly fired missiles, glider bombs and drones from the Kursk and Belgorod regions to attack Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Sumy, which are close to their shared border.
Zelenskiy called on Ukraine’s diplomats to advocate in the US and Europe for the “important defense decision” to lift restrictions on long-range weapons. Putin’s reaction to the Kursk invasion “shows that there is no rational reason to refuse us,” he said.
Although the US and the European Union were caught by surprise, they have largely supported the operation, even as they remain cautious about its prospects.
The Moscow Defense Ministry said its forces continued to “repel” Ukrainian attempts to advance into Russian territory, though it gave no indication they had regained control of border areas.
Russia has continued its attacks elsewhere along the frontline, advancing in the eastern Donetsk region toward the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for Ukrainian troops. Local authorities have ordered an evacuation of civilians starting Tuesday.
Ukraine reported last night that Russia carried out two drone and missile attacks in nine regions, including Kiev. In total, three of the four missiles and 25 of the 26 drones were intercepted, Ukrainian air defense commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram.
According to local authorities, power plants in part of the northeastern Sumy region and an industrial enterprise in western Ternopil were hit.
Ukraine’s seizure of the border region is the first foreign military offensive into Russia since World War II. Acting Kursk Region Governor Alexey Smirnov said early in the incursion that began on August 6 that about 120,000 residents had been evacuated and another 60,000 were waiting to leave their homes, though officials did not provide more recent data.
Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram message on Tuesday that settlements in the border region have repeatedly faced drone and shelling attacks.
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