Ukraine on Kursk Incursion: We Don’t Need Russian Land

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 21, 2024, Russian soldiers fire an anti-aircraft gun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 21, 2024, Russian soldiers fire an anti-aircraft gun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Ukraine on Kursk Incursion: We Don’t Need Russian Land

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 21, 2024, Russian soldiers fire an anti-aircraft gun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 21, 2024, Russian soldiers fire an anti-aircraft gun at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Ukraine said on Tuesday its biggest cross-border assault of the war to date would prevent Russia sending more troops to fight in its eastern Donetsk region and disrupt military logistics, and that Kyiv had no interest in occupying Russian territory.

Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week in a surprise operation that Kyiv says has seen its forces take 1,000 sq km of land, its largest gains since 2022.

"Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people's property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people," Ukraine's foreign ministry's spokesman said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukrainian forces have taken control of areas in the Kursk region that Russia has used to launch more than two thousand cross-border strikes on Ukraine since June.

"It should be emphasized that the operation ... helps the front line because it does not allow Russia to transfer additional units to (Ukraine's) Donetsk region, complicates its military logistics," foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said.

Russian forces have been trying to advance for months on multiple fronts in the Donetsk region, taking advantage of their greater troop numbers to steadily inch forward towards cities like the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Reuters could not independently verify the situation on the battlefield.

For now, there is no sign of a letup for Ukraine in the east where Kyiv's military said earlier it had recorded the largest number of battles with Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front in a single day since before the Kursk incursion.

Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy told Reuters they had noted a movement of Russian troops from Ukraine's south to other areas, likely including Kursk, this week.

But he said the number of attacks had not reduced as a result and that it was too early to draw conclusions.

RESTRICTING MOVEMENT

Kyiv's military on Tuesday restricted the movement of civilians within a 20 km (12 mile) zone of the northeastern border area.

It cited an "increase in the intensity of hostilities" and the activation of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups, adding the measure was temporary and that residents could still access their homes by showing proof of registration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to hit back at Ukraine with a "worthy response" and accused Kyiv's "Western masters" of giving Ukrainian forces help.

Russia's acting regional governor in Kursk said on Monday that Ukraine's forces had taken control of 28 settlements in an incursion that was about 12 km deep and 40 km wide.

Though less than half Ukraine's estimate of its gains, the Russian assessment was a striking public admission of a major setback more than 29 months since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor.



Wars Top Global Risk as Davos Elite Gathers in Shadow of Fragmented World

A view of a logo during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of a logo during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Wars Top Global Risk as Davos Elite Gathers in Shadow of Fragmented World

A view of a logo during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of a logo during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 19, 2024. (Reuters)

Armed conflict is the top risk in 2025, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released on Wednesday showed, a reminder of the deepening global fragmentation as government and business leaders attend an annual gathering in Davos next week.

Nearly one in four of the more than 900 experts surveyed across academia, business and policymaking ranked conflict, including wars and terrorism, as the most severe risk to economic growth for the year ahead.

Extreme weather, the no. 1 concern in 2024, was the second-ranked danger.

"In a world marked by deepening divides and cascading risks, global leaders have a choice: to foster collaboration and resilience, or face compounding instability," WEF Managing Director Mirek Dusek said in a statement accompanying the report.

"The stakes have never been higher."

The WEF gets underway on Jan. 20 and Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States the same day and has promised to end the war in Ukraine, will address the meeting virtually on Jan. 23. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend the meeting and give a speech on Jan. 21, according to the WEF organizers.

Among other global leaders due to attend the meeting are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang.

Syria, the "terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza" and the potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East will be a focus at the gathering, according to WEF President and CEO Borge Brende.

Negotiators were hammering out the final details of a potential ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday, following marathon talks in Qatar.

The threat of misinformation and disinformation was ranked as the most severe global risk over the next two years, according to the survey, the same ranking as in 2024.

Over a 10-year horizon environmental threats dominated experts' risk concerns, the survey showed. Extreme weather was the top longer-term global risk, followed by biodiversity loss, critical change to earth's systems and a shortage of natural resources.

Global temperatures last year exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial era for the first time, bringing the world closer to breaching the pledge governments made under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

A global risk is defined by the survey as a condition that would negatively affect a significant proportion of global GDP, population or natural resources. Experts were surveyed in September and October.

The majority of respondents, 64%, expect a multipolar, fragmented global order to persist.