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Russia says it is fighting Ukrainian incursions in the Kursk region for a second day. This is supposedly one of the most significant incursions into Russian territory during the war. The Ukrainian government has not claimed responsibility or declared the attack. But Ukraine is seeking to step up its fight against Russia in occupied Crimea and is achieving some success. Nick Schifrin reports.
Note: Transcripts are generated through machines and humans and are modified for accuracy. Possibly they would imply errors.
Amna Nawaz:
Russia says it is fighting off attacks by Ukrainian forces for the second day in a row on the Russian border.
Heavy fighting is said to take place in the Kursk region, opposite Ukraine’s Sumy region. This is one of the largest incursions into Russian territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago. The Ukrainian government has not claimed responsibility or claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ukraine seeks to intensify its fighting against Russia only on the 800-mile front line, but also in the territory that Russia has occupied since 2014, Crimea. And this is where Ukraine is achieving some success.
Here’s Nick Schifrin with more.
Nick Schifrin:
In a war in which Ukraine is struggling to stay the course, Ukraine boasts, with well-produced videos, of a theatre of success, of a time of occupation through Russia, where Russian ships vanished.
Ukraine has no warships, but Kyiv and Washington say Ukrainian maritime drones have destroyed more than a dozen Russian ships. And now Ukraine has unleashed its toughest U. S. weapon, the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, on Crimea.
A U. S. official told “PBS News Hour” that the United States has sent shipments of missiles, with a range of about 190 miles and worth $1. 3 million, to Ukraine.
Jake Sullivan, U. S. National Security Advisor:
I’m announcing a $300 million emergency security assistance program.
Nick Schifrin:
After long internal debates and external pressures, the management adopted the first legal ATACMS for Ukraine in mid-March. And the United States says Ukraine first used them in mid-April, when it attacked a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges (ret. ), U. S. Army: ATCMS is assisting Ukraine in its purpose of making the Crimean peninsula uninhabitable for the Russian army, navy, and air force.
Nick Schifrin:
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges is the former commander of the U. S. Army in Europe. He has long maintained that the path to Ukrainian victory runs through Crimea, whose annexation in 2014 is one of President Vladimir Putin’s greatest achievements and where the Russian military has since grown.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges:
Ukraine now has enough ATACMS to be successful at all airfields, on all ships in Sevastopol, at the port and at other vital facilities. That is the goal: to make this position impregnable to Russian forces.
Nick Schifrin:
USA. The U. S. Navy finds that the ATACMS attack contributed to the sinking of a Russian submarine last weekend and broke or destroyed Russian airfields and at least a dozen Russian air defense batteries in Crimea, adding some of Russia’s most complex warships, the S-300 and S-400. , and among the warships, the Tsyklon, one of the first to be sunk by a ballistic missile.
Ukrainian attacks are helping force Crimea’s most valuable Russian naval assets into southern Russia, a feat that was first completed by the long-range British Storm Shadow missiles that Ukraine has introduced since last year.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges:
These moves are very important, in part because the Russians update them. Crimea is a launch pad for all kinds of missiles, rockets and drones that impact civilian infrastructure. The ability to do so has been particularly reduced.
Nick Schifrin:
These tactical advances promote a strategic objective: keeping Ukrainian industry on the other side of the Black Sea. Ukraine’s food exports are now at or even above large-scale pre-invasion levels.
These revenues amount to a trillion dollars to keep the Ukrainian government afloat, to be able to pay soldiers’ salaries and for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (through interpreter):
During this war, Ukraine has acquired a whole new prestige in the Black Sea. This region will now be free from Russian rule.
Nick Schifrin:
The United States and Ukraine also say that ATACMS can simply call Russian originating lines to Crimea, adding via ferry. Officials verify that ATACMS broke up two ferries that Russia uses to transport fuel and ammunition, and that Ukraine destroyed the third.
The movements penetrated one of the most heavily fortified air defenses on the planet, around the Kerch bridge, which connects Crimea to mainland Russia. Ukraine set fire there in October 2022 with an improvised explosive device that Russia said was equivalent to 10 tons of TNT.
In December 2022, Putin took the initiative to reassure Russians about the solidity of the bridge. In July 2023, the Ukrainian maritime drone attacked it again. But U. S. officials confirm that Russia shot down ATACMS, adding that last June, shrapnel from a downed missile aimed at an Army target fell on the swimmers.
Russian media showed living room chairs used as stretchers, and Russian officials said the attack killed at least four people, plus children, and injured 150 others.
If Americans and Ukrainians in Crimea feel unsafe, tourists told local journalists it works.
Man (via interpreter):
We hope for the best, but of course deep down we have a sense of danger.
Nick Schifrin:
But the greatest danger to Ukraine is far from Crimea. In the east, Ukraine is suffering due to shortages of manpower and ammunition.
Some experts question whether Crimea represents the most important front for a U. S. weapon with limited supply.
Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program, Quincy Institute: It’s of great importance, but it doesn’t have a critical impact on the overall long-term of the war.
Nick Schifrin:
Anatol Lieven directs the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute. He says ATACMS would be preserved for an expected Russian offensive.
Anatol Lieven:
There is an explanation why the Ukrainians are keeping their ATACMS and other weapons and ammunition for the moment.
Nick Schifrin:
Ukraine also needs to use ATACMS elsewhere, in Russia, on bases with aircraft dropping devastating 2,000-pound bombs, but the United States limits the use of ATACMS domestically. of Ukraine.
Volodymir Zelensky:
We can protect our cities from Russian guided bombs if the American leadership steps forward and allows us to destroy Russian military aircraft at their bases.
Nick Schifrin:
But until the United States takes that step, Crimea will remain a concentrated target and an example of Ukraine’s good fortune in a never-ending war of attrition in sight.
For PBS News Hour, I’m Nick Schifrin.
As deputy director of foreign affairs and defense at PBS NewsHour, Dan plays a key role helping to oversee and produce the show’s foreign affairs and advocacy stories. His articles broke new ground on a range of military issues, revealing debates that were simmering. the public eye.
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