{"id":35262,"date":"2024-08-25T20:50:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T00:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/gains-in-russian-territory-shape-ukraine-independence-celebrations\/25\/08\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-08-25T20:50:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T00:50:35","slug":"gains-in-russian-territory-shape-ukraine-independence-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/gains-in-russian-territory-shape-ukraine-independence-celebrations\/25\/08\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Gains in Russian territory shape Ukraine independence celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Along with all Ukrainians celebrating their Independence Day, 19-year-old student Yuliia Vyshnivska had been warned of an increased threat of Russian strikes.<\/p>\n

But it had not stopped her and hundreds of others making their way up to an exposed rooftop for an open-air musical display of defiance in the heart of Kyiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard on the radio the Americans were warning that the Russians will bomb you today, and I was like, \u2018Oh my God, they want to kill us’,” she said, as the setting sun illuminated the patterns of her traditional outfit, the vyshyvanka.<\/p>\n

“But we\u2019re used to it and know we live in this dangerous situation, so we are not scared.”<\/p>\n

As a dozen orchestral musicians, clad in black, pumped out high-octane takes on classic Ukrainian tunes, I mentioned one thing that is different from their last two Independence Days at war: Ukraine has now entered and taken Russian territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we saw this news from Kursk, from Russian region, it was an amazing event. It’s like a miracle for us. We are so happy with it,” Ms Vyshnivska said.<\/p>\n

She said the fate that Russians on the border were now suffering, displaced and in danger, was a natural consequence of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine two and a half years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom that moment on we started hating them and now… we want to kill them. And it\u2019s awful. I understand that it’s not okay for humans to say this, but we hate them, and we can\u2019t think in any other way because they want to kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended a number of Independence Day events in the capital, gave a pre-recorded address from the Sumy region \u2013 just across the border from the newly gained Russian territory.<\/p>\n

“Russia waged war on us. It violated not only sovereign borders, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense,\u201d he told his people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was endlessly seeking one thing: to destroy us. And what the enemy brought to our land has now returned to its home.”<\/p>\n

Nearly three weeks into the Kursk incursion, Ukraine has consolidated much of the Russian land it seized rapidly in the surprise operation.<\/p>\n

An estimated 10,000 elite Ukrainian troops burst across the border on 6 August, taking more ground<\/a> in a matter of days than Russia had won in Ukraine so far this year.<\/p>\n

Since the operation began, the BBC has kept in touch with one of the Ukrainian fighters now in Russia.<\/p>\n

In his latest messages to us, Serhiy – a pseudonym – revealed that the situation was tougher now.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia has gotten stronger. We see this in the number of strikes by drones, artillery, and aviation. Their sabotage and reconnaissance groups began to operate too,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

All meant the Ukrainians were taking more casualties, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the operation, we were on the rise. We had minimal losses. Now, because of the Russians\u2019 firepower, we are losing a lot of guys. Moreover, the Russians here are fighting for their land, just as we are fighting for ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serhiy says his earlier elation is giving way to some scepticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of us do not understand the meaning of this operation. It’s one thing to fight for Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. It’s a different matter for the Kursk region, which we don’t need.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Zelensky had said the Kursk operation aimed to capture Russian soldiers – which led to a prisoner swap and the release of 115 Ukrainians <\/a>on Saturday – among other goals he could not disclose.<\/p>\n

He had also said the operation was a preventative strike to deter Russian attacks towards Sumy.<\/p>\n

Despite the sense of justice and retribution the Kursk incursion has brought, it remains a risky strategy for Kyiv.<\/p>\n

The rapid gains must be considered alongside losses in the east of Ukraine, where Russia continues to make ground in a grinding battle.<\/p>\n

Moscow\u2019s troops are drawing nearer to the city of Pokrovsk, which was home to around 60,000 before the fighting.<\/p>\n

It is the biggest city in the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control and is an important hub for the defending forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really difficult situation,\u201d 23-year-old Nazar Voytenkov, a former TV journalist who is now a volunteer with the 33rd Mechanised Brigade defending Pokrovsk, told us on a crackly phone line.<\/p>\n

I asked if he was aware of Russians troops being diverted to defend their own soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, I don’t feel that. I think Russians have a big resource of troops in the Kursk region and elsewhere in Russia, and they\u2019re using them in this operation that the Ukrainian forces started.”<\/p>\n

I asked if it had relieved any pressure on Ukrainian troops in the area – a key hope of Kyiv’s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t feel like it\u2019s become easier. We still have enemies in all directions and just last week, they tried again to approach,” he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey used approximately 10 armoured vehicles and infantry to capture our positions, but we made a nice defence. We won this battle, and now we wait for their next fight. So no, they’re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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