Putin accuses Ukraine of provocation

Kyiv, August 7

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday described a Ukrainian incursion into the country’s southwestern Kursk region as a “large-scale provocation” as his officials asserted that they were fighting off cross-border raids for a second day.

Ukrainian officials remained silent about the scope of the operation.

Putin met with his top defence and security officials to discuss what he called the “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses, ambulances with different types of weapons.” The fighting is about 500 km from Moscow.

Army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin at the meeting that about 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle and more than 200 wounded, Russian news agencies reported.

The Ukrainian shelling, meanwhile, killed at least two people, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. It was not possible to independently verify the Russian claims. — AP