Russia must feel war consequences, says Zelensky amid Ukrainian attack

BBC:

Three days into Ukraine’s cross-border attack on Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Moscow must “feel” the consequences for its invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done”, Mr Zelensky said in his Thursday evening address, without directly referencing the Ukrainian offensive.

“Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war,” he added.

Russia says at least 1,000 Ukrainian troops, supported by tanks and armoured vehicles, entered its territory on Tuesday morning – in what appears to be one of the largest assaults on Russian soil since the war began.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier accused Ukraine of a “major provocation”.

Ukrainian officials have been largely silent on the offensive. The exact situation on the ground is hard to determine, with few specific details released by either side.

“Everyone can see that the Ukrainian army knows how to surprise [and] achieve results,” the Ukrainian president said earlier on Thursday, without directly referencing the assault.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was monitoring Kursk’s nuclear plant, according to state-owned Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday that its troops were “continuing to destroy” armed Ukrainian units with air strikes, rockets and artillery fire.

The ministry said Russian reserves had been rushed to the region.