By Guy Faulconbridge and Olzhas Auyezov
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A powerful aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the US-led NATO alliance helped plan Ukraine's surprise attack on the Kursk region, which Washington has denied.
The blitz, the largest foreign attack on Russia since the Second World War, began on August 6 when thousands of Ukrainian soldiers crossed Russia's western border to the great embarrassment of Putin's military.
Ukraine said the attack was necessary to force Russia, which sent its troops into Ukraine in February 2022, to start “fair” peace talks.
But the United States and Western powers, eager to avoid a direct military conflict with Russia, said Ukraine had not given advance notice and that Washington was not involved, although weapons provided by Britain and the US were reportedly used on Russian soil.
Influential veteran Kremlin hawk Nikolai Patrushev dismissed the Western claims in an interview with Izvestia newspaper.
“Operations in the Kursk region were reorganized with the participation of NATO and Western special services,” he was quoted as saying, without providing evidence.
“Without their participation and direct support, Kyiv would not have entered Russian territory.”
These words mean that the first authorization of Ukraine to enter the territory of Russia has a high risk of escalation.
Putin chaired a meeting of Russia's Security Council, which included Patrushev, and said the discussion would focus on “new technological solutions” to be used in what Russia calls special military operations.
KREMLIN SAYS UKRAINE WILL PAY FOR OUR PARTICIPATION
“Washington's efforts created all the requirements for Ukraine to lose its sovereignty and lose part of its territories,” said Patrushev.
Ukraine said on Thursday it had installed a military commander in the territory it controls, as Russia stepped up its offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's Ministry of Defense, on the other hand, said it has repelled a series of Ukrainian attacks near the Kursk frontline.
The governor of Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, said that Ukraine destroyed a road bridge over the Seym river in the Glushkovsky region of the region. State news agency TASS, citing Russian security officials, said that could disrupt the ongoing evacuation of an estimated 20,000 civilians from the border region.
While the attack on Ukraine exposed weaknesses in Russia's defenses and changed the public narrative of the conflict, Russian officials said a “terrorist attack” on Ukraine would not change the war.
Russia had been advancing for most of the year in a key eastern sector 1,000-km (620 miles) ahead and had a large numerical superiority. It controls 18% of Ukraine.
After more than 10 days of fighting, Ukraine held at least 450 sq km (175 sq miles) of territory, or less than 0.003% of Russia. But for Putin, the entry crosses another red line.
One Russian source told Reuters the attack could embolden hardliners in Moscow who are advocating a major war, but Putin's choice may not be easy.
He wanted to portray the largest European war in the seventies both as a limited “special military operation” that does not need to upset the daily life of Russia and as a historic war with the West that undermines Moscow's interests and wants to disintegrate Russia.
The United States, which has said it will not allow Putin to win the war in Ukraine, has so far seen the surprise attack as a defensive move to allow the use of American weapons, officials in Washington said.
But they also expressed concern about problems as Ukrainian troops advance into enemy territory.
Another American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that if Ukraine begins to take Russian villages and other non-military targets using US weapons and vehicles, it can be seen as an extension of the restrictions imposed by Washington, to avoid any sense of directness. The NATO-Russia conflict.
Russia's Defense Ministry has published drawings it claims show a Russian jet destroying a US-made aircraft The Stryker (NYSE:) armored fighting vehicle in the Kursk region.
