Zelenskyy Says Ukrainian Troops Have Taken Full Control of the Russian Town of Sudzha

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country’s troops had taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha, which would be the largest population center to fall under Ukraine’s purview since the start of its cross-border incursion more than a week ago.

Although it only had a prewar population of around 5,000 people, Sudzha is the administrative center for the border area of Russia’s Kursk region and is larger than any of the other small towns or settlements that Ukrainian forces have reportedly taken since the incursion began Aug. 6.

Sudzha holds a measuring station for Russian natural gas that flows through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe and accounts for about 3% of Europe’s imports. There was no immediate indication of any disruption to the gas flow through the town.

Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian military command office was being set up in Sudzha, which suggests Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term — or just signal Moscow that it might intend to do so. Zelenskyy didn’t elaborate on what functions the office might handle, although he said earlier that Ukraine would be distributing humanitarian aid to the Sudzha residents in need.

Russia didn’t immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s statement, but its defense ministry said earlier Thursday that Russian forces had blocked Ukrainian attempts to take several other communities.

The surprise Ukrainian incursion has caused chaos in the Kursk region, causing the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and leading to the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv.

Although Russian military bloggers report that Russian reserves that were sent to the Kursk region have slowed Ukrainian advances, questions remain over whether the incursion might force Moscow to move troops from front-line positions in eastern Ukraine, where they’ve made slow but steady advances this year, to defend embattled Russian territory.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Russia had withdrawn some forces, including infantry units, from Ukraine and was shifting them to Kursk, but that the US didn’t know how many troops were involved.

However, a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly said it doesn’t appear the Russians have moved a sufficient number of armored battalions or other types of combat power from the front-line in Ukraine to the Kursk region and will need to shift more troops to repel Kyiv’s forces.

Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian small mechanized groups have continued to probe Russian defenses. And satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Thursday show that a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air bases damaged at least two hangars and other areas.