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The Ukrainian police said they were evacuating people, perhaps in anticipation of a retaliatory strike, but the goal of the military operation on Russian territory remained unclear.
Aug. 9, 2024Updated 2:52 p.m. ET
Ukrainian forces pressed deeper into Russia on Friday, trying to capitalize on their surprise cross-border offensive, as Moscow moved quickly to shore up its defenses against the largest assault on Russian soil since the war began.
After capturing several small settlements the last few days, Ukraine was battling to take full control of a town near the border and sending small units to conduct raids farther into the southwestern Russian region of Kursk.
At the same time, the Russian military announced it was sending more troops and armored vehicles to try to repel the attack. Russian television released videos of columns of military trucks carrying artillery pieces, heavy machine guns and tanks.
Perhaps preparing for retaliation, Ukrainian authorities on Friday said they were evacuating 20,000 people from the Sumy region, which sits across the border from Kursk.
The flurry of movement underscored the extent to which Ukraine’s attack had introduced an unpredictable new element into a war that has been progressing in slow motion elsewhere on the battlefront. Ukraine’s success so far could provide a much-needed boost to a country whose forces have been steadily losing ground for many months, while bringing the war home to Russian civilians in a more serious way.
But military analysts have questioned whether the operation is worth the risk, given that Ukrainian forces are already stretched. It is also not clear whether the mission will help Ukraine improve its position on the rest of the battlefield by forcing Russia to divert troops from elsewhere to reinforce the border region.
