Ukraine detains 'mole' accused of helping Russia's offensive in Kursk

Border battles continue almost constantly throughout a large-scale war, both due to the activity of the enemy's artillery from the Belgorod region, and artillery duels due to the activity of their artillery on the territory of Ukraine."

Andrii

All attacks were repulsed by the actions of the state border protection units of the 'North' forces group, artillery fire and the use of FPV (first-person-view) drones. No crossing of the state border of the Russian Federation was allowed."

In a post on Telegram the same day, it said

There are once again unconfirmed reports of Ukraine breaking through into Russia at another point on the border in Belgorod. Some Russian channels claim Ukraine infantry troops reached Demidovka. There is no verification, but raiding parties are fairly regular."

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tim White, a journalist, wrote

Grigory Karasinhead of the Russian delegation

The dialogue was tense, uneasy, but useful for us and the Americans,

head of the Russian delegation Grigory Karasin told the Kremlin-funded RIA Novosti news agency

Volodymyr Fesenkoanalyst

This is not an offensive. These are counterattacks to distract part of Russian forces from the fighting in the Kursk region,

Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta think tank in Kyiv, told Al Jazeera

Yuri Podolyakathe town of Sudzha, blogger

Yes, it will result in the distraction of some of our forces and meanwhile, multiplies enemy losses as it has to advance in very uncomfortable conditions,

Yuri Podolyaka wrote on Telegram

The one who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind and has his face smashed in,

Kirill Sazonov, a Ukrainian political analyst-turned-soldier who fought in Kursk, quipped on his Telegram channel

Our servicemen are doing such a good job, they protect us by getting into other people’s houses,

one of the locals told the Pepel Belgoroda Telegram channel

It would be good to replicate Kursk, but I think we don’t have enough forces,

Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told Al Jazeera

Rustem Umerovdefence Minister

The discussion was productive and focused – we addressed key points, including energy,

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov wrote on X late Sunday

But these are asymmetric actions related to Kursk and Sumy to force the enemy to stretch their forces, to show that we, too, can form buffer zones,

he said

As a result of the strike, the facility was completely destroyed,

the General Staff said

While at the front, the 'mole' was preparing coordinates for the aggressor's missile and bomb attacks on the locations of Ukrainian troops,

SBU said

Russian milbloggers acknowledged that Ukrainian forces advanced into southern Demidovka but denied that Ukrainian forces seized the settlement,

the think tank said

Vladimir Romanovrussian President

The settlement is under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,

said military blogger Vladimir Romanov, known as Romanov Light on Telegram

There is no constitutional mechanism for regions to secede

One official told the Moscow Times