After Ukraine troops cross into Kursk, Putin blasts 'provocation'
Thousands of Russians fled the Kursk region Thursday as Ukrainian tanks rolled deeper into Russian territory, the third day of Ukraine's boldest strike on President Vladimir Putin's forces since the war began more than two years ago.
Putin called the Ukrainian attack a "major provocation." Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a top Putin adviser, dismissed the Ukrainian attack as an attempt to force Russia to divert resources from the front and a ploy to convince the U.S. and other Western nations to provide more military support.
Medvedev said Russia should expand its goals to include seizing all of Ukraine.
"It is necessary to draw a serious lesson from what happened," Medvedev said on social media. "To mercilessly defeat and destroy the enemy."
Russian authorities say about 1,000 Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border Tuesday, supported by tanks, armored vehicles, swarms of drones and pounding artillery. The Ukrainian incursion appears to have targeted Russian supply lines, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The attacks near the Russian border conform with U.S. policy supporting Ukraine, Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy press secretary, told reporters Thursday. The Ukrainians are taking action to protect themselves, she said.
"We don’t support long-range attacks into Russia," Singh said.“We’re going to continue to support Ukraine. We don’t feel that this is escalatory in any way.”
Developments:
? Putin ordered payments of 10,000 rubles ? about $115 ? to Kursk residents evacuating the border area. Extra trains and buses were pressed into service to expedite the exodus.
? Russia's Defense Ministry said Thursday that the army and the Federal Security Service had halted the Ukrainian advance.
Ukraine military silent on offensive into Russia
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, citing aerial photos, confirmed that Ukraine troops appeared to have advanced more than six miles into Russian territory. Ukraine's military has been silent on the offensive.
"The Kremlin likely seeks to ... discredit Ukraine internationally for conducting this attack into Russian territory and avoid inciting domestic panic about the scale, impacts and potential outcomes of the Ukrainian operation," the institute said in its assessment.
Ukraine prisoners of war face hunger, abuse
The head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says Russia has tortured 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Danielle Bell told Dutch TV channel NOS that Russian authorities torture Ukrainian POWs starting with the first interrogations. Many Ukrainian soldiers are structurally malnourished and often abused in Russian captivity, according to a U.N. investigation. Bell stressed that the torture of Ukrainian POWs constitutes a war crime.
Bell's statements are consistent with the Institute for the Study of War's "longstanding assessments about Russia's systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in occupied Ukraine and toward Ukrainian POWs," the institute said in a recent assessment.
Ukraine intercepts Russian missiles, drones
Ukraine's air force said Thursday that it shot down two out of four missiles and all four drones launched by Russia during an overnight attack. Russia launched two Kh-59 missiles, successfully downed by Ukraine, and two ballistic Iskander-M missiles, according to the report. Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Serhiy Lysak said a 12-year-old boy was injured and two homes were damaged.
The missiles targeted the northeastern Kharkiv region, the military said. Gov. Oleh Syniehubov had not provided a report on the aftermath of the attack as of Thursday morning.
Maps: Ukraine's incursion into Russia forces Moscow to make an important decision
Conributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As Ukraine crosses into Russia, Putin slams 'provocation' in Kursk