Ukraine begins an attack on the Russian border region as Zelenskyy asks the allies to strengthen their air defenses

The Ukrainian military began a attack on the area west of Kurskwarning that Russia is “getting what it deserves.”

Although it is not immediately clear how much progress Ukraine has made in the region, the attack has reached a critical point a conflict of three years both sides want to increase their negotiating hand before the US President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he will again ask his allies to strengthen his country's air defense at the Ramstein group meeting in Germany this week.

He said a number of partner countries will participate in the meeting “including those who can help increase our capabilities not only in missile defense but also in guided missiles and Russian aircraft.”

“We will discuss this with them and continue to persuade them,” Zelenskyy said in his late-night speech on Saturday. “The mission has not changed: to strengthen our air defenses.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, which was supposed to be held in October and attended by President Biden. It was postponed because Hurricane Milton hit the US

During his last few weeks in office, the Biden administration has been pushing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine.

Ukraine used two tanks, a dozen armored vehicles and a demolition unit in Sunday's attack, which targeted the village of Berdin – 9 kilometers northeast of Sudzha, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

“The campaign to destroy the Ukrainian military continues,” it said.

Pro-Kremlin military bloggers acknowledged that Russia's military was under pressure but said Moscow was fighting back.

“The main events of the attempted invasion of the Ukrainian army are clearly still ahead of us,” said the influential Telegram channel Rybar.

Ukrainian officials have offered little detail about the latest attack, with a prominent lawyer pleading for calm.

“I don't understand why it's necessary to officially report to the Kursk region. Maybe it's better to do it afterwards when the mission is over?” Member of Parliament of Ukraine Oleksiy Goncharenko said.

Some officials expressed their delight at the war, which comes nearly three years since Moscow launched an all-out military offensive in Ukraine.

“Russia is getting what it deserves,” Ukrainian presidential spokesman Andriy Yermak said.

The head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that security forces are “active” in the area, without elaborating.

“In the Kursk region, the Russian people are very worried because they were attacked in many ways, and it was a surprise to them,” he said.

Kyiv seized a number of villages in the Kursk region shortly after its entry on August 6, 2024, but its progress was halted after Moscow rushed reinforcements to the area, including thousands of troops from its ally North Korea.

A Ukrainian military source told AFP last November that Kyiv still controls about 300 square kilometers of the Russian border region.

But Kyiv has so far been unable to stop Moscow's advances in Ukraine, which were seven times higher in 2024 than the previous year, according to an analysis of AFP data from the Institute for the Study of War.

Both Russia and Ukraine have exchanged frequent attacks since the beginning of the year.

Russia said on Sunday it shot down dozens of Ukrainian planes overnight in a raid that destroyed homes and prompted air strikes, while Kyiv said Moscow shot down 103 drones in its territory.

Four Russian airports briefly suspended traffic early Sunday for “security” reasons, forcing at least eight flights to divert, Russian aviation authority spokeswoman Rosaviatsia said.