Putin accuses Ukraine of 'provocation' amid alleged border incursion
www.bbc.com
Fighting has been taking place since Tuesday, with footage showing smoke rising in some areas.

…

On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko said the Ukrainian army had established control over the Sudzha gas hub - a major gas facility involved in the transit of natural gas from Russia to the EU via Ukraine, which has continued despite the war. It is the only point of entry for Russian gas into the EU.

Although this has not been verified by the BBC, Mr Honcharenko’s comment was the first confirmation of an incursion into Russian territory by a Ukrainian official. Kyiv had previously not commented on reports of a cross-border attack.

  • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldEnglish
    19·
    3 months ago

    I wonder how many operatives they’re going to sneak into the country through this raid to do longer term damage via reconnaissance and sabotage. Plenty of opportunity with all this chaos and the ability to bring a large amount of supplies to stash things.

    • AA5B@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      I imagine the distraction is the main goal.

      Looking at the map:

      • Russia tried to stretch Ukraine with a distraction near Kharkiv
      • so now Ukraine is trying to stretch Russia with a distraction yet further north

      I don’t know what value that region may have to the war effort if either side but this initial attack seemed well targeted

      It’ll be interesting to see Europe’s reactions when they turn off the gas flow, and force Europe to stop being hypocrites

      • LarmyOfLone@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        force Europe to stop being hypocrites

        Not sure what you mean? This is a proxy war. The objective is to bleed Russia and end up owning a big chunk of Ukrainian assets (or our banks will). But mess with the gas supply of the EU and support is going to turn hard on Ukraine.

        It’s possibly this is going to turn into a long turn problem between the EU and the Ukraine left bitter by the war. Of course, every crisis is a great opportunity to make money! Even a hypocrisis

      • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        Thats most likely the main reason, but they don’t get many opportunities like this to slip some people in. It seems like it’d be a waste to not leave behind a team or two to go deeper and gain intel/sabotage things.

    • Madison420@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      Weirder than that, it can’t be easily bombed without permanently disabling Russia’s ability to earn revenue. If Ukraine just sits on it they can hold Russia economically hostage indefinitely.