Belgorod Gov. Reports Ukrainian Troops Trying To Break Through In Region

Vyacheslav Gladkov, Governor of Russia's Belgorod oblast posted a statement on 27 Aug claiming "There is information that [Ukrainian forces are] trying to break through the border of the Belgorod region. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the situation on the border remains difficult, but under control..."

• This comes as Ukraine continues its incursion in Kursk, directly north of Belgorod. On 26 Aug, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the continuing operation was 'preventative' to stop Russian assaults on the cities of Sumy and Kharkiv.
• The 'fog of war' has made it very difficult to verify info on the situation on the battlefield. Nevertheless, should Ukrainian forces make another notable incursion into Russia it would come s as a further blow to President Vladimir Putin's war effort.
• The incursions into Russian territory have sparked a major response from Moscow in the form of massive air raids on Ukrainian cities and key infrastructure. The Institute for the Study of War think tank wrote on 26 Aug that Russia "likely lacks the defense-industrial capacity to sustain such massive strikes at a similar scale with regularity."
• Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is visiting the Kursk nuclear power plant amid Ukraine's incursion into the region. Russia has claimed that the plant - made to the same plans as the Chornobyl plant in Ukraine that experienced a catastrophic meltdown in 1986 - has been targeted by Ukrainian forces since the incursion. Kyiv is yet to comment on the accusations.