Russia Hits Back at Ukraine Incursion, Missile Kills Two Near Kyiv

August 11, 2024 Stu Turley ENB Pub Note, Geopolitical, International News, Natural Gas, Pipeline, Top News
Emergency services personnel retrieve bodies from rubble in the village of Rozhyvka close to Kyiv, on Aug. 11.Source: Ukrainian Emergency Service

ENB Pub Note: The Ukraine intrusion into Russia has many implications, and one of the most important is the fighting around the Sudzha area. This is an area important with natural gas pipelines and could be impactful for years if these assets are hit. With Ukraine not renewing its contracts to transport Russian Natural Gas past 2024, there could be some additional issues cropping out of this. 

 

  • Ukraine say Russia struck Kyiv with North Korean missiles
  • Kremlin ground forces continue to press in Donetsk region

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged allies to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory as his troops continue to hold ground gained in a surprise cross-border incursion last week and a missile attack killed two near Kyiv.

Russia’s defense ministry said its troops fired on Ukrainian soldiers in the western Kursk region in a bid to repel the first foreign incursion on its territory since World War II. The ministry said Sunday it downed four missiles and 35 drones over Kursk and neighboring regions overnight.

Moscow said earlier it was bringing in reinforcements to help quell Ukraine’s surprise cross-border attack — the biggest assault within Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered a supposedly quick “special military operation” against Ukraine in 2022 that’s now well in its third year.

Officials in Kyiv have been tight-lipped about their goals, as they were during counteroffensives in 2022 and 2023. Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Saturday that Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was keeping him informed about “our actions to push the war out into the aggressor‘s territory” without offering more details.

Ukraine Continues Incursion Into Russia’s Kursk Region

Source: Institute for the Study of WarNote: Map shows control areas and events as of August 8, 2024

Zelenskiy thanked his forces for creating “the kind of pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor.”

Natural Gas Pipelines – Ukraine – Russia – Source Global Energy Monitor

Russia struck several regions of Ukraine overnight with four North Korean ballistic missiles and 57 Shahed drones, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram. Explosions were heard from the nation’s west to east.

The KN-23 missiles were fired from the Voronezh region of Russia, Oleshchuk said, adding that Ukraine shot down 53 drones.

Read more: North Korea’s Economy Rebounds as Kim-Putin Ties Fuel Arms Trade

The US and South Korea have accused North Korea of sending millions of rounds of munitions and scores of ballistic missiles to Russia to aid in the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow and Pyongyang have denied despite evidence showing arms shipments taking place.

A residential building in the Brovary district east of the capital was destroyed in the overnight attack, killing a father and his four-year-old son and seriously injuring at least three others, regional authorities said.

Russian troops continue to press along the front line in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and have also been storming positions in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, the General Staff in Kyiv said on Sunday.

Ukrainian officials have complained that delays in the arrival of promised Western aid are allowing the Kremlin to make grinding progress against an army already stretched by a lack of weapons and manpower.

While Kremlin ground forces has made slow gains in recent months, Ukraine has increasingly targeted military objects and energy infrastructure — often deep into Russia — with drones and missiles.

Russian military bloggers, who earlier reported Ukrainian advancing as deep as 37 kilometers (23 miles) into the Kursk region, said Kyiv’s troops had made no additional breakthroughs overnight.

Fighting around the town of Sudzha, the site of a key transit point for the last remaining pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe, helped push European natural gas prices to the highest level this year on fears of possible disruptions to supplies. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC reported flows across Ukraine within a normal range on Sunday.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said the Kursk atomic power plant near the city of Kurchatov was operating normally, Tass reported Saturday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi and Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Likhachev discussed the situation in a phone call late Friday, the company said in a website statement.

Melinda Haring, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, shares her insight on the Ukrainian strike in Russia with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power.”

Russia’s Federal Security Service announced a “counter-terrorism” regime in Kursk and the neighboring Belgorod and Bryansk border regions on Saturday, a move that allows for restrictions on movement and communications. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that was a response to Ukraine’s “unprecedented” attempt to destabilize the situation.

More than 76,000 residents have been evacuated from Russian border areas in the Kursk region in response to the fighting. The government declared a federal emergency in the region on Friday.

In Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, which borders Kursk and other Russian regions, officials have been carrying out a mandatory evacuation of as many as 20,000 residents from a 10-kilometer zone under Russian fire.

Ukraine’s leading allies have endorsed the Kursk incursion. The Pentagon said the move is consistent with Washington’s policy on the use of US-supplied weapons, while the EU has said Ukraine has a legitimate right to defend itself, including with attacks on Russian territory.

(Updates with Ukrainian Air Force commander in sixth paragraph.) – Source: Bloomberg 

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About Stu Turley 4045 Articles
Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor.   He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage, and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat. Energy should be used to elevate humanity out of poverty. Let's use all forms of energy with the least impact on the environment while being sustainable without printing money. Stu is also a co-host on the 3 Podcasters Walk into A Bar podcast with David Blackmon, and Rey Trevino. Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.

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