Russia: Fierce Fighting in Kursk Region
Concerns about the safety of the Kursk NPP are growing
Fighting has been going on for the fourth day in a row in Russian territories along the border between Ukraine and the Kursk region. While the Russian army is using every available weapon, from missiles to aircraft, to block Ukraine’s offensive, Kiev’s military is using combat drones and artillery to gain ground.
On the night of Friday into Saturday (August 9-10), Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 32 drones launched by Ukrainian forces over the Kursk region as well as the Yaroslavl region, which is more than 700 kilometers from Ukraine in a straight line.
On Friday evening, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee of the Russian Federation launched a “counter-terrorist operation” in three regions – Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk, on the border with Ukraine. According to the committee’s statement, which was broadcast by all Russian TV channels, “the decision was made in order to ensure the safety of citizens and eliminate the threat of terrorist acts by saboteurs of the Ukrainian enemy.”
The declaration of a counter-terrorist operation allows security forces and the army to apply “emergency measures,” such as travel restrictions and bans, confiscation of vehicles in emergency circumstances, and the shutdown of cell phones and the internet, regional authorities have clarified. The protection of infrastructures considered “strategic” will be strengthened.
In this context, Russia has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the situation at the Kursk NPP following the Ukrainian offensive in the Russian region. According to Rosatom, the nuclear plant has resumed normal operation after temporary staff reductions at some parts of the plant. Fragments of the remains of downed Ukrainian missiles were found near the plant. “Ukraine’s reckless actions not only threaten the Kursk nuclear power plant, but also jeopardize the entire global nuclear industry,” the Russian permanent mission in Vienna said in a message posted on Telegram.
While thousands of residents of the Kursk region are fleeing war zones and moving to other safe settlements in the country, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it was sending “massive” reinforcements to units fighting Ukrainian forces, especially in the Sudzha district of the Kursk region, home to the only surviving station for exporting Russian natural gas to Europe. For this reason, a ministry spokesman said, tanks and other heavy tracked military equipment were dispatched.
According to Russian intelligence, the ongoing Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region involves one of the most combat-ready units of the AFU, the 80th separate assault brigade based in Lviv in western Ukraine. The unit is equipped with Soviet-manufactured T-64BV tanks, designed back in the 1960s and manufactured in Kharkov, Ukraine, and T-80BVM tanks that entered service in 1974. In addition to Soviet tanks, the brigade uses American tanks, Stryker armored fighting vehicles, light and heavy weapons produced by the USA and NATO countries. On August 9, Washington ordered a new “arms and military equipment package” to be sent to Ukraine. According to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the $125 million package “includes air defense interceptors, munitions for missile systems and artillery, multi-purpose radars, and anti-tank weapons.”
