Russia launches new operation to halt advancing Ukrainian troops

Moscow launches counter-terror operation to halt Ukraine's advance, risking nuclear plant, as conflict intensifies.

Moscow on Saturday (August 10, 2024) mounted a "counter-terror operation" in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv's advance deeper into Russia and warned that the fighting endangered a nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian units stormed into Russia's western Kursk region on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) morning in a shock attack, the largest and most successful cross-border offensive by Kyiv of the two-and-a-half year conflict.

Its troops have advanced several kilometres and Russia's Army has rushed in reserves and extra equipment — though neither side has given precise details on the forces they have committed.

Russia's nuclear agency on Saturday (August 10, 2024) warned the Ukrainian attack posed a "direct threat" to the nearby Kursk nuclear power station.

At least 16,000 civilians requested state assistance to leave their homes in Russian border areas, where emergency aid has been ferried in, and extra trains to the capital Moscow have been put on for people fleeing.

"The war has come to us," one woman from the border zone told AFP at a Moscow train station on Friday (August 9, 2024), declining to give her name.

Russia's Army confirmed Saturday (August 10, 2024) it will still fighting the Ukrainian incursion.