Putin ‘sends thousands more troops into Ukraine'

Telegraph

19-02-2025

Vladimir Putin claimed to have sent thousands of Russian troops into Ukrainian territory from Kursk, even as the US pushes for peace.
The Russian president said Russia's 810th brigade, which contains around 2,500 troops, had 'entered the territory of the enemy'.
Kyiv swiftly rejected Putin's claim, which was also later rowed back on by Russian state media.
'Putin's information about a large-scale Russian offensive is a lie,' said Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official tasked with countering disinformation.
Russian state media later reported that the 810th brigade was deployed to Russia's Kursk region, which borders Sumy in Ukraine.
Russia's army initially launched an invasion of the border region of Sumy on Feb 24 2022, but had withdrawn all forces by the start of April that year after Ukraine pushed troops back.
The apparent attempt by Russia to seize more territory in a new part of Ukraine came after Donald Trump said Putin never would have invaded were he president in Feb 2022.
'A half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without the loss of much land, very little land, without the loss of any lives,' the US president said, echoing his repeated claim that he would have prevented Putin's invasion.
Any move by Putin to launch a fresh attack in Ukraine would also mark a major escalation as Mr Trump pushes for a rapid end to the fighting.
Kursk was invaded by Ukraine in a cross-border incursion in August last year. Kyiv's troops seized 1,100 square kilometres of land, of which it currently retains half, according to analysts.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian war bloggers claimed Kyiv's troops had advanced up to five kilometres behind Russian lines in a fresh assault on the Kursk border region.
Ukraine launched a counter-attack against Russian forces in the region at the start of the year, with hundreds of soldiers and dozens of armoured vehicles advancing on enemy lines south east of Sudzha.
Geolocated combat footage published on Feb 7 showed that Ukraine's forces were operating further behind enemy lines than previously thought.
The recent footage, captured by Russian drones, showed Ukrainian troops advancing across snow-covered countryside near Makhnovka and Cherkasskaya Konopelka.
Fierce fighting has been taking place for several weeks, with analysts reporting that Ukraine had taken several towns in the region, including Kolmakov and Fanaseyevka.
On Wednesday, Putin spoke publicly for the first time since the US and Russia held talks on the war in Ukraine in Saudi Arabia the day before.
The Russian president said he rated the talks 'highly', saying it was 'impossible' to solve the war without 'increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States'.
Putin also insisted Ukraine would not be excluded from peace negotiations, claiming Europe's reaction to the talks had been 'hysterical'.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Trump engaged in a war of words after the US president suggested Ukraine had started the war.
'Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years [ago], you should have never started it,' Mr Trump said after responding to claims Kyiv had been frozen out of peace negotiations.
In response, Mr Zelensky accused the US president of living in a 'disinformation bubble'.
A White House official told CNN that Mr Trump decided to label Mr Zelensky a dictator in direct response.