Russia has controlled several villages in the Kursk region, claiming its troops are close to thousands of Ukrainian troops fighting on Russian territory.
For seven months, Ukraine has controlled a pocket in western Russia. Last week, Russian and North Korean forces launched a major offensive shortly after Donald Trump and Kyiv extended military support, intelligence and satellite feed.
Russians are in the Ukrainian-occupied Russian town of Sudzha ahead of talks with Ukrainian representatives in Saudi Arabia this week. They have recaptured the villages in the north – Star Stage, Novaya Sorochina and Malaya Loknya, and other small settlements.
During the fierce battle, some unconfirmed reports were captured by some Ukrainian soldiers. A key supply path between Sudzha and Ukraine’s Sumy region is subject to continued fires in Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Monday, and a delegation led by Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior White House officials on Tuesday. Zelenskyy will not participate in the negotiations.
The Ukrainian side may propose a peace plan outlined by Zelenskyy last week, which includes stopping drone and missile strikes and halting military activities in the Black Sea. However, so far, Vladimir Putin has no interest in the ceasefire.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Sunday it repelled extraordinary attacks by Russian sabotage and attack groups through a natural gas pipeline. About 100 Russian soldiers spent four days climbing through a 15km long pipeline that leads to the outskirts of Sudzha.
Video footage shows that Ukrainian airborne attack troops went on strike with cannons shortly after their appearance and wiped out some Russians. “The Russian special forces are being tested, blocked and destroyed. The enemy in the Sudesa area suffers a lot of losses,” the Ukrainian military said.
It acknowledged that the situation was difficult, but to control it, Russia adopted the Korean combat forces. These include alternative soldiers sent by Pyongyang after the initial 11,000 North Korean contingents that arrived last November.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medevdev claimed that Kiev’s troops were almost surrounded and would be driven out soon. “The cover of the smoking pot is almost closed. The offense continues,” he posted on the telegram.
The United States appears determined to force Ukraine to make further concessions ahead of talks this week in Saudi Arabia. According to NBC News, Trump hopes that Zelenskyy can bring territory to Russia and move towards the election.
Trump suggested on Sunday that Ukraine may not survive the Russian war, even with the support of the United States.
In an interview with Fox News, he decided to draw on Ukraine’s support, saying, “Well, it may not survive anyway.”
Trump also said that Zelenskyy’s Biden administration, like “Baby’s Candy,” borrowed the United States to make money from the United States. He repeated that Zelenskyy was not “grateful”, but did describe him as “smart” and “strong”.
After the newsletter promotion
Trump’s pro-Russian ally Elon Musk earlier issued a new warning to Kyiv. He posted on X, writing: “My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. If I turn it off, their front lines will collapse.”
His threat prompted Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski to condemn him, noting that his government had signed commercial contracts with Starlink and paid Ukraine $50 million to obtain Musk’s satellite internet service.
“The ethics that threaten aggressive victims, if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider, we will be forced to look for other providers,” Sikorski wrote on X.
According to the UK Bank (FT), negotiations are underway with four European satellite operators. The paper points out that it will take time to replace the terminals of the star-stripe realm on the 1,000-km frontline.
Musk later said on Sunday that Starlink would never close its terminal, no matter how much he disagrees with Ukrainian policies. “We will never do something like this or use it as a bargaining chip,” he wrote on X.
Over the past two days, Russian bombs have killed more than 20 people. On Friday, several ballistic missiles smashed into a five-story residential area in the East Donetsk region, killing 11 civilians and injuring dozens of people, including three children.
Overnight, Ukraine carried out its own long-range drone attack deep inside Russia. According to Telegram channel, Ryazan and Lipetsk’s refineries were hit along with the oil warehouse in Cheboksary in Chuvashia Republic, Russia.
The warehouse is located more than 900 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and has been targeted for the first time.
