Russia Tightens Security in Kursk Region, Where Ukraine Launched an Incursion as Fighting Persists

 In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of ​​Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of ​​Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia Tightens Security in Kursk Region, Where Ukraine Launched an Incursion as Fighting Persists

 In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of ​​Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of ​​Kursk region of Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russia on Saturday announced what it called a counterterrorism operation to increase security in the border region of Kursk, where an incursion this week by Ukrainian forces caught Russian troops off-guard and exposed its military vulnerabilities in the nearly 2½-year-old war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that fighting was continuing in the Kursk region and that the army has conducted airstrikes against Ukrainian forces, including using a thermobaric bomb that both causes a blast wave and creates a vacuum that suffocates its targets.

The measures announced for Kursk, and for the neighboring Belgorod and Bryansk regions that border Ukraine, allow the government to relocate residents, control phone communications and requisition vehicles.

The raid that began on Tuesday is the largest cross-border foray of the war and raises concerns about fighting spreading well beyond Ukraine.

In neighboring Belarus, where Russian troops are deployed but which hasn't sent its own army into Ukraine, President Alexander Lukashenko said Saturday that its air defenses shot down unspecified objects launched from Ukraine that were flying over Belarusian territory.

“I do not understand why Ukraine needs this. We need to figure it out. As I said before, we made it clear to them that any provocations will not go unanswered,” Lukashenko said, according to state news agency Belta.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin later identified the objects as drones and said that Lukashenko has ordered troop reinforcements sent to border areas.

A Russian plane-launched missile slammed into a Ukrainian shopping mall on Friday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 44 others, authorities said.

The mall in Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, is located in the town’s residential area. Thick black smoke rose above it after the strike.

“This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians,” Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said in a Telegram post.

It was the second major strike on the town in almost a year. Last September, a Russian missile hit an outdoor market there, killing 17.

July saw the heaviest civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said Friday. Conflict-related violence killed at least 219 civilians and injured 1,018 over the month, the mission said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that reinforcements are being sent to Kursk to counter Ukraine’s raid, with Russia deploying multiple rocket launchers, towed artillery guns, tanks transported on trailers and heavy tracked vehicles.

The ministry reported fighting on the outskirts of Sudzha, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border. The town has an important pipeline transit hub for Russian natural gas exports to Europe.

There has been little reliable information on the daring Ukrainian operation, and its strategic aims are unclear. Ukrainian officials have refused to comment on the incursion, which is taking place about 500 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Moscow.

Asked about Ukraine’s incursion, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday the United States was “in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts,” but that he wouldn't comment until “those conversations are complete.”

“There’s been no changes in our policy approaches,” Kirby said when asked about US policy on use of weapons. “They’re using it in an area where we had said before that they could use US weapons for cross-border strikes. The end goal here is to help Ukraine defend itself.”

Mathieu Boulegue, a defense analyst at the Chatham House think tank in London, said that the Ukrainians appear to have a clear goal, even if they’re not saying what it is.

“Such a coordinated ground force movement responds to a clear military objective,” Boulegue told The Associated Press. Also, the raid has spooked the Russian public and delivered a slap in the face to Russian President Vladimir Putin, offering Ukraine “a great PR coup,” he said.

The attack “is a massive symbol, a massive display of force (showing) that the war is not frozen,” he said.



North Korea’s Kim Vows to Make His Nuclear Force Ready for Combat with US 

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
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North Korea’s Kim Vows to Make His Nuclear Force Ready for Combat with US 

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivering his speech on the 76th anniversary of the country’s founding in Pyongyang, North Korea, 09 September 2024 (issued 10 September 2024). (EPA/KCNA)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday, after the country disclosed a new platform likely designed to fire more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the mainland US.

Kim has repeatedly made similar pledges, but his latest threat comes as outside experts believe Kim will perform provocative weapons tests ahead of the US presidential election in November. In recent days, North Korea has also resumed launches of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

In a speech marking the 76th founding anniversary for his government on Monday, Kim said North Korea faces "a grave threat" because of what he called "the reckless expansion" of a US-led regional military bloc that is now developing into a nuclear-based one.

Kim said such a development is pushing North Korea to boost its military capability, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

He said North Korea will "redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state including the nuclear force fully ready for combat," KCNA reported.

North Korea has been protesting the July signing of a new US-South Korean defense guideline meant to integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons to cope with growing North Korean nuclear threats. North Korea said the guideline revealed its adversaries’ plots to invade the country. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they don't intend to attack the country.

Since 2022, North Korea has significantly accelerated its weapons testing activities in a bid to perfect its capabilities to launch strikes on the US and South Korea. The US and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Many analysts believe North Korea has some last remaining technological barriers to overcome to acquire long-range nuclear missiles that can reach the US mainland, though it likely already possesses missiles that can hit key targets in South Korea and Japan.

South Korean officials and experts say North Korea could conduct nuclear tests or ICBM test-launches before the US election to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the US. Observers say North Korea likely thinks a greater nuclear capability would help it win US concessions like sanctions relief.

North Korea as of Tuesday morning did not appear to have staged any major military demonstration to mark this year’s anniversary. But the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Sunday published a photo of Kim inspecting what appeared to be a 12-axle missile launch vehicle, which would be the largest the country has shown so far, during a visit to a munitions plant.

This sparked speculation that the North could be developing a new ICBM that is bigger than its current Hwasong-17 ICBM, which is launched on an 11-axle vehicle.

When asked about the photo on Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder refused to provide a specific assessment of North Korea’s missile capabilities and reiterated that Washington was working closely with Seoul, Tokyo and other partners to preserve regional security and deter potential attacks.

"It’s not unusual for North Korea to use media reports and imagery to try to telegraph, you know, to the world," he said.

North Korea flew hundreds of huge balloons carrying rubbish toward South Korea for five straight days through Sunday, extending a Cold War-style psychological warfare campaign that has further stoked animosities on the Korean Peninsula. The balloons largely contained waste papers and vinyl, and there has been no reports of major damage.

North Korea began its balloon campaign in late May, calling it a response to South Korean civilians flying propaganda leaflets across the border via their own balloons. South Korea later restarted its anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the rivals' tense land border.

Observers say North Korea is extremely sensitive to South Korean leafleting activities and loudspeaker broadcasts as they could hamper its efforts to ban foreign news to its 26 million people.