MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine pounded Russia with missiles and drones on Wednesday and said it was advancing deeper in the biggest foreign incursion into Russia since World War Two that U.S. President Joe Biden said posed a dilemma for President Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in the early hours of Aug. 6 into Russia's western Kursk region in what Putin said was a major provocation that was aimed at gaining a stronger hand in possible future ceasefire talks.
Ukraine carved out a slice of the Russian border region of Kursk and though Putin said the Russian army would push out the Ukrainian troops, more than a week of intense battles have so far failed to expel them.
"The situation still remains difficult," said Yuri Podolyaka, an influential Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. "The enemy still has the initiative, and so, albeit slowly, it is increasing its presence in the Kursk region."
Russia said on Wednesday that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones in Russia overnight, mostly in the Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. It said missiles had also been shot down and showed Sukhoi Su-34 bombers striking Ukrainian positions in Kursk.
Unconfirmed reports said some of the Ukrainian drones struck Russian air bases. Russia's National Guard said it was beefing up security at the Kursk nuclear power plant which is just 35 km (22 miles) from the fighting.
Russian commanders had said that the front in Kursk had stabilised, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces were continuing to advance there and ordered his generals to develop the next "key steps" in the operation.
Biden said that U.S. officials were in constant touch with Ukraine over the invasion of Russia, which he said had "created a real dilemma" for Putin, who ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022.