UKRAINE IS PRESSING forward with its cross-border offensive missions into Russia as local media and politicians reported successful drone attacks made their way into the south-eastern region of the country.

Local Russian outlet RIA Novosti reports this morning that the Russian town of Lipetsk came under a “massive” drone attack and that Kiev is conducting operations at the border down “almost every day”.

“Lipetsk has been subjected to a massive UAV attack. Air defense is in operation. Do not approach the windows. Take cover in a safe place,” the town’s governor posted onto his Telegram channel.

No deaths have been reported by local media outlets but emergency services and air defences have been deployed. According to the governor, six people have been injured, but most explosive objects detonated in areas far away from civilian locations.

Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address yesterday that Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its invasion.

“Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done,” Zelensky said, without directly referring to the offensive.

Citizens in Lipetsk have been urged by local government not to post any images or footage of the attack. According to authorities, a energy facility was targeted and damaged during the attack.

Lipetsk city is about 330 kilometres from the Ukrainian border with Russia’s Kursk region, where pro-Kyiv forces for days have been waging an offensive on Russian territory.

Ukraine has made significant territorial gains within its borders and along its eastern border with Russia in recent days, according to independent US-based Institute for the Study of War.

Geolocated footage and claims by local governments in Russia, analysed by the research institute, found that Ukrainian forces are as far as 35 kilometers from the international border.

It cautioned, however, that Ukrainian forces “most certainly do not control” all of that territory and the Russian defence ministry yesterday said that its troops were continuing to fight and “destroy” armed Ukrainian units, with air strikes, to push them back.

It said it had rushed in reserves and was “thwarting attempts to break through” deeper into Kursk. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the incursion a “large-scale provocation” by Kyiv, and Russia’s top general vowed on Wednesday to crush it.

The US State Department has expressed support for Kyiv without directly commenting on the operation.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian President met with a cross-party delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss the ongoing defence of his country and how to push forward to peace.

“We are doing everything to achieve a just peace as soon as possible,” he said. “I am grateful for the support of everyone in America who values freedom and independence as much as we do in Ukraine.”

- With reporting by © AFP 2023