A deputy from the German Social Democratic Party criticized the invasion of the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region, which surprised not only Russia, but also Kiev's NATO allies.
Ralph Stegner said that Germany supplies Ukraine with weapons for defensive purposes, not to wage war on Russian soil. The deputy believes that the idea that this progress can put Ukraine in a better negotiating position is unfounded, focus.de reported.
However, another representative of the ruling coalition in Berlin sees things differently. Markus Faber of the Free Democratic Party said that with its aggressive war against Ukraine, Russia has turned its own territory into a war zone. “With the Russian attack on Ukraine, the territory of both countries is a zone of military operations. The use of weapons is subject to the provisions of international law, he said.
On August 6, the Ukrainian army carried out an unexpected invasion of Russia's Kursk region, and in days managed to capture hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory. The increasingly massive advance of Ukrainian forces into Russian territory is a central topic in the Western press. "Ukraine's invasion of Russia flips Putin's script" reads a leading headline in the American "New York Times" and according to the British "Guardian" nine days after entering the Kursk region, Kiev has gained a "psychological and political advantage", but has taken a risk, with Russian President Vladimir Putin "not going to let things go like this," writes BTA.
The reality of 130,000 displaced Russians and the chaotic response may affect the Kremlin's official line that Russia is on its way to victory, notes the New York Times. "Families fleeing the advancing Ukrainian troops sought shelter with strangers. Russian parents fear that their children may be sent to the front," the publication wrote in its report.
"The New York Times" described Putin "leafing through a white notebook at Monday's televised crisis meeting, reading aloud from handwritten notes, suggesting his advisers had not had time to write a speech for him as they usually do." The newspaper adds that last week's surprise invasion of Ukraine has not changed the overall course of the war, but it has already dealt a blow to Russia, not only because of the territory taken. It puts the government in Moscow and Russian society, which had largely adapted to the war, into a new situation of unplanned decisions and uncertainty.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said yesterday that he had a meeting on the security and humanitarian situation in Russia's Kursk region, where the Ukrainian army is carrying out an unprecedented cross-border offensive, Reuters reported. "Security, humanitarian aid, establishment of a military administration if necessary," the head of state wrote in the "Telegram" application. At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk announced that Kiev is planning corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the Russian Kursk region to Ukraine and vice versa, Reuters informed. Humanitarian missions will also be organized to support the local citizens, by providing access to the area of international charitable organizations, she added.