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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 by devices and humans and edited 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 or declared responsibility for the attack.
Ukraine seeks to intensify its fight against Russia only on the 800-mile front line, but also in the territory Russia has occupied since 2014, Crimea. And this is where Ukraine achieves 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 large-scale production videos, of a theatre of successes, of a time of occupation through Russia, where Russian ships left for the smoke.
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 American weapon, the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, on Crimea.
A U. S. official told “PBS News Hour” that the United States has sent Ukraine shipments of missiles, with a range of about 190 miles and a value of $1. 3 million.
Jake Sullivan, U. S. National Security Advisor:
I’m announcing a $300 million emergency security assistance program.
Nick Schifrin:
After lengthy internal discussions and external pressures, the leadership 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 succeed at all airfields, on all ships in Sevastopol, in the port, and at other vital facilities. That is the goal: to make this position impregnable for Russian forces.
Nick Schifrin:
The United States has found 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 advanced peaks, the S-300 and S-400. and among the warships, the Tsyklon, one of the first to be sunk by a ballistic missile.
The Ukrainian strikes are helping to push Russia’s most valuable naval assets out of Crimea and into southern Russia, a feat first completed with the long-range British Storm Shadow missiles that Ukraine has been launching 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 goal: to maintain Ukrainian industry throughout the Black Sea. Ukraine’s food exports are now reaching or exceeding pre-full-scale invasion levels.
These revenues amount to one trillion dollars to keep the Ukrainian government afloat, to pay soldiers’ salaries, and for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (through an interpreter):
During this war, Ukraine acquired absolutely new prestige in the Black Sea. This region will now be free of Russian domination.
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 bridge’s solidity. In July 2023, the Ukrainian maritime drone attacked it again. But U. S. officials confirm that Russia shot down the ATACMS, adding that last June, shrapnel from a downed missile aimed at an army target landed on swimmers.
Russian media showed lounge chairs used as stretchers, and Russian officials said the attack killed at least four people, as well as children, and wounded 150 others.
If Americans and Ukrainians from Crimea feel unsafe, tourists told local journalists that it works.
Man (through interpreter):
We hope that everything goes well, of course, deep down we have a sense of danger.
Nick Schifrin:
But the greatest danger to Ukraine comes from Crimea. Al east, Ukraine is struggling to hold the line 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, director of the Quincy’s Eurasia Institute, said ATACMS would be retained for an expected Russian offensive.
Anatol Lieven:
There is an explanation as to why the Ukrainians are keeping their ATACMS and other weapons and ammunition for the time being.
Nick Schifrin:
Ukraine also needs to use ATACMS in Russia, specifically on bases with aircraft dropping devastating 2,000-pound bombs, but the United States is restricting the use of ATACMS inside Ukraine.
Volodymir Zelensky:
We can protect our cities from Russian guided bombs if the American leadership steps forward and allows us to destroy Russian army aircraft at their bases.
Nick Schifrin:
But until the United States takes this step, Crimea will remain a concentrated target and an example of Ukraine’s good fortune in a war of attrition with no end 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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