Kyiv, Ukraine – Satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press on Thursday showed that a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airbases caused damage to at least two hangars and other areas.
The images, taken by Planet Labs PBC on Wednesday and analyzed by the Associated Press, reveal that two hangars at the Borisoglebsk Airbase were hit, with debris scattered around them. It’s unclear what purpose these hangars served. There also appears to be potential damage to two fighter jets at the base.
Separately, at the Savasleyka Airbase, a burn mark can be seen on the tarmac in the images from Wednesday, although there doesn’t seem to be any obvious damage to the fighter jets or other aircraft there.
On Thursday, acting Governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovo area, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Sudzha, where intense battles are ongoing, as Ukraine’s bold incursion into the border region of Kursk enters its second week.
The evacuation order suggests that Ukrainian forces are gradually advancing toward the area.
Russia also declared a federal state of emergency in the Belgorod region. A regional state of emergency had been declared a day earlier in Belgorod, and the change in status indicates that officials believe the situation is worsening and hampering the region’s ability to provide aid.
Residents who suffer severe health damage will be eligible for payments of up to 600,000 rubles (about $6,600). Those who lose property are eligible for up to 150,000 rubles (about $1,700), according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Ukraine’s leading military official, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that Ukrainian forces have captured 1,000 square kilometers (approximately 390 square miles) in the Kursk region. This claim could not be independently verified. The front lines in Kursk have remained fluid, allowing both sides to maneuver easily, unlike the static front in eastern Ukraine, where it took Russian forces months to make gradual gains.
Russian military bloggers claimed that Russian reinforcements arriving in the region had halted the Ukrainian advance, but they also noted that small Ukrainian mechanized groups continued probing Russian defenses.
Speaking to reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky dismissed Syrskyi’s claim of controlling 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.
Polyansky said, “What’s happening in Kursk is an incursion by terrorist sabotage groups, so there isn’t a front line as such.” He added, “There’s an incursion because there are forests that are extremely difficult to control.”
He stated that the Ukrainian forces in the forests would be identified and eliminated in “a very short period of time.”
Polyansky described the Ukrainian incursion as a “reckless and completely insane operation,” and said that Ukraine’s goal of forcing Russia to move its forces from eastern Ukraine had not been achieved because “we have enough forces there.”