In the footage, the soldier is seen loading a grenade launcher while repeatedly shouting "Akhmat! Chechnya!" — a reference to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov's forces — before firing in the direction of a residential area.
The situation in the Sumy Oblast remains "challenging," State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said.
Russian media claimed that Ukrainian forces had struck the key gas transit facility, which plays a crucial role in Russian gas exports to Europe.
Explosions occurred at the Sudzha gas metering station in Russia's Kursk Oblast on the night of March 21, followed by a large fire, Russian media and Telegram channels reported.
Russian forces have retaken Sudzha, a key stronghold of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on March 13.
Butusov wrote on Facebook on March 8 that Russian troops had used a gas pipeline to approach Ukrainian positions in Sudzha in Kursk Oblast. He added that the troops are being "liquidated."
"Difficult battles continue in the border area of Sumy Oblast, Russian assault units are attempting to breakthrough and move toward a highway from Yunakivka to Sudzha in Kursk Oblast," said Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
Key developments on Feb. 27: * Trump says he 'can't believe' he called Zelensky 'dictator' * First contacts with Trump administration 'inspire certain hopes,' Putin says * Russia to lose 'chance for world leadership' if it doesn't get out of war by 2026, Budanov says * Turkey considers sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, Bloomberg
Russia's Defense Ministry claims that its troops continue to advance and push Ukrainian forces out of the salient. Kyiv has not commented on purportedly lost settlements in Kursk Oblast.
At least four people were killed and 84 rescued after the attack on the evening of Feb. 1, which Ukraine's General Staff says was carried out by Russia using a targeted guided aerial bomb strike.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia's alleged bombing of a nursing home in Kursk Oblast, comparing the attack on civilians to Russian war crimes in Chechnya, Syria, and Ukraine.
"At the time of the attack, dozens of local residents were inside the building preparing to evacuate," Ukraine's military said on Feb. 1, adding that nearly 95 people could be trapped under the rubble.
According to the military, around 2,000 people remain in areas under Ukrainian control. Over 70 people are currently staying in the nursing home that came under attack.
"They (Russian forces) are destroying their own people. Despite the fact that Sudzha is in the rear, the Russians are wiping it off the face of the earth," Ukraine's Ground Forces commander Oleksandr Pavliuk said.
Editor’s note: The Kyiv Independent traveled into Russia’s Kursk Oblast with Ukrainian soldiers during the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in the area. Since the trip constitutes an unsanctioned crossing of the state border between Russia and Ukraine, the identities of the author of the report and of the
On the morning of Aug. 6, the first groups of Ukrainian soldiers armed with heavy equipment crossed the Ukrainian-Russian border and entered Kursk Oblast, marking the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II. This unprecedented operation took the world by surprise as Kyiv's troops cut through the border
Editor’s note: The transcript of this interview has been edited for clarity. As it entered its second week, Ukraine’s cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk Oblast is showing no signs of slowing down. Although the element of surprise that overwhelmed the thin Russian defending force in the first
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in his address on Aug. 15 that Ukrainian forces had captured the entire Russian town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast.
Ukrainian TSN news program showed Ukrainian soldiers removing the Russian flag in the town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast on Aug. 14, reporting from embattled Russia's region for the first time after Kyiv's incursion. Ukraine's unprecedented operation, ongo
Kyiv and Moscow plan to continue transmitting gas to Europe despite Ukraine's incursion in Kursk Oblast near a key cross-border transit point for the fuel, Bloomberg reported on Aug. 12, citing its undisclosed sources.
The attack was corroborated by Rybar, one of the most popular pro-Kremlin Russian Telegram channels, who claimed that a local resident who filmed the video and then handed it over to the Ukrainian media had been arrested.
This is the first time the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces reached the town amid multiple reports about their presence there.
Sudzha, Korenevo, and Psel stations in Kursk Oblast are "temporarily closed to passengers," Russian state-owned train operator Moscow Railway said on Aug. 8, as Russia claims ongoing battles in the region.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Aug. 8 that its forces continue to engage Ukrainian troops in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky border districts of Kursk Oblast.
Russian sovereign territory is once again under attack after Ukrainian forces launched an ambitious operation across the state border in Kursk Oblast in large numbers on Aug. 6. This time, the attack is led not primarily by small units of pro-Ukraine Russian nationals and other assorted foreign formations, like in
Several thousand people have been reportedly evacuated amid the ongoing fighting in the oblast, Russian media reported.
"The EU continues to fully support Ukraine's legitimate right to defense against Russian aggression and its efforts to restore sovereignty and territorial integrity," European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said.
Russian pro-war Telegram channels claimed that fighting was ongoing in the region's towns of Sudzha and Korenevo, writing that the Russian military has retreated from the Sudzha gas metering station, which transits gas to Europe through Ukraine.
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