Ukrainian drone attack against Russian air bases damaged at least two hangars and other areas, satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press show. (AP) on Thursday.
Images taken Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show two hangars at Borisoglebsk Air Force Base were hit, with a debris field visible around them. It is not yet clear what the purpose of the hangars is. There also appears to be damage potentially done to two fighters at the base.
Separately, at Savasleyka Air Base, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, a trace of apron burn could be seen in images on Wednesday, although there was no visible damage to the fighter jets and other aircraft there.
Acting governor of Kursk Oblast Alexei Smirnov on Thursday ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovsky district, about 45 kilometers northwest of Suja, where heavy fighting is taking place as Ukraine's audacious incursion into Kursk's border region entered its second week.< /p>
The evacuation order suggests that Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing towards the area. Authorities said more than 120,000 residents in the Kursk region have already been evacuated.
Russia has also declared a state of emergency at the federal level in the Belgorod region. A regional state of emergency was declared a day earlier in Belgorod, and the change in status suggests officials believe the situation is worsening and hampering the region's ability to deliver aid.
Residents who suffer serious health impairments will be eligible to receive payments of up to 600,000 rubles ($6,600). Those who suffer property loss are entitled to compensation of up to 150,000 rubles ($1,700), Russia's Emergencies Ministry said.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Gen. Alexander Sirsky, announced that Ukrainian forces had captured 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the Kursk region. This claim cannot be independently verified. The lines of contact in Kursk remain fluid, allowing both sides to maneuver easily, unlike the static front line in eastern Ukraine.
Russian military bloggers claim that Russian reserves arriving in the region have halted the Ukrainian advance, but also note that small Ukrainian mechanized groups have continued to probe Russian defenses.
Speaking to reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, rejected Sirsky's claim that he had gained 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.
"What is happening in Kursk is an invasion of terrorist subversive groups, so there is no front line as such," Polyansky said. "There is an invasion because there are forests that are very difficult to control."
He said that Ukrainian troops in the forests would be separated and eliminated within a "very short period of time".
Polyanski called the Ukrainian invasion "an absolutely reckless and insane operation" and said that Ukraine's goal of forcing Russia to move its troops out of eastern Ukraine is not happening because "we have enough troops there".