Ukraine Launches Large-Scale Aerial Attack on Russia's Border Regions

Ukraine launched drone and missile attacks on several Russian border regions overnight, according to Moscow authorities, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the ongoing push into Russian territory for the first time.

Russia's Defense Ministry said early on Sunday that its air defenses had destroyed 14 drones and four Tochka-U tactical missiles over the border Kursk region, as well as 16 drones over the Voronezh region to the east and three uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Belgorod. Drones were also shot down over the Bryansk and Oryol regions, Moscow said.

A downed Ukrainian missile fell on a multistory building in the city of Kursk overnight, injuring 13 people, Kursk acting regional governor Alexei Smirov said in post to messaging app Telegram. In a separate statement carried by Russian state media on Sunday, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said 69 people who were injured in shelling on the Kursk region were being treated in hospital.

Zelensky said on Saturday that he had heard from Kyiv's army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, about "actions to push the war out into the aggressor's territory."

This is the first official acknowledgment of Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region last week from Zelensky, the most significant push into Russian territory since the start of full-scale war nearly two and a half years ago. Kyiv's objectives are still unclear, and officials have been tight-lipped about the operation.

Kyiv launched cross-border raids from its northeastern Sumy region into Kursk, prompting Russia to quickly transfer reinforcements to the border and start evacuating residents. Moscow's Emergency Situations Ministry said on Saturday that more than 76,000 people had been evacuated so far.

Smirnov declared a state of emergency across the region on Wednesday. Russia said on Saturday that it would impose additional security measures in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk as part of a "counterterrorism" operation.

Cross-border raids into Russia have been previously claimed by Kyiv-aligned Russian groups, but this is the first time regular Ukrainian troops have mounted such an operation.

Ukraine has continued to advance in Kursk, with reports suggesting Kyiv has reached up to around 13 miles into the region. The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), evaluated on Saturday that the rate of confirmed gains into Kursk had slowed after Moscow transferred several new units to the area.

Separately on Sunday, Alexander Gusev, the governor of the Voronezh region, said air defenses had "destroyed more than 15 drones" overnight. Several buildings and an unspecified number of vehicles were damaged, leaving approximately 100 residents without electricity, he said on Sunday morning.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod's regional governor, said a civilian was injured in the border town of Shebekino after three drones hit an apartment building, with another apartment block damaged by a UAV. A separate building was damaged by a drone in the neighboring village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, Gladkov said.

Further west in the region, three cars and one residential building were damaged in the village of Malinovka, and another home briefly caught fire in Berezovka border village, the governor said.

On Sunday, Kyiv authorities said Russia had launched ballistic missiles and "several dozens" of explosive drones at the capital overnight. Kyiv's suburbs "took the hit" from the missiles, but all drones were shot down, the head of the city's military administration, Serhiy Popko, said in a post to Telegram.

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