Ukraine Launches Surprise Attack Into Russian Territory, Kremlin Reports

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a possible Ukrainian incursion into Russia, far-right rioting in the United Kingdom, and Bangladesh’s new interim government.

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Bringing the Battle to Russia

Ukraine launched a rare cross-border armored incursion into Russian territory on Tuesday, according to the Kremlin and independent military analysts, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to convene his Security Council on Wednesday. This is a “major provocation,” Putin said, citing heavy fighting in Russia’s western Kursk region. Ukraine has not yet confirmed reports of such an assault.

If confirmed, the operation would represent one of the largest Ukrainian military incursions into Russian territory since the war began in February 2022. Armed Russian exiles and other anti-Kremlin fighters aligned with Kyiv have carried out similar operations in the past, rather than the Ukrainian military directly being involved. In this case, though, it appears that Ukrainian forces are taking part in the operation. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who commands Russia’s forces in Ukraine, said as many as 1,000 Ukrainian troops participated in the assault, though Foreign Policy could not confirm that number.

Ukraine’s purpose in possibly launching such an attack wasn’t immediately clear. Some military experts suggest that Kyiv could be trying to overstretch Russian forces, thereby relieving pressure on embattled Ukrainian troops on the front lines elsewhere. But the incursion could also have a political component, Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker from Odesa, told FP’s Jack Detsch. Goncharenko made it clear that he did not have confirmation that the Ukrainian military was involved in the fighting in Kursk, but he said such an attack could be an effort from Kyiv to pressure the United States to further extend its envelope for using U.S.-provided weapons inside Russia.

“The idea is to show that really, we can attack, [and] nothing had happened,” Goncharenko said. “Putin had not started nuclear war” despite the Russian leader previously threatening to do so.

In late May, Washington authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons against Russian military targets near its border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and this week, a Ukrainian delegation traveling to Washington called on the White House to allow Kyiv to target Russia with U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems.

Goncharenko also suggested that the assault could be an effort to rally Ukrainian public opinion as war weariness sets in. “People are tired, exhausted. There are no successes for Ukraine for quite a long time,” Goncharenko said. “Politically, it’s to show that we can still beat them.” The Ukrainian military hasn’t gained significant ground since its offensives around Kharkiv and the southern city of Kherson in the fall of 2022. And according to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have seized around 112 square miles of Ukrainian land since June 14.

The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that it had deployed troops and fighter jets to Kursk in response. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces “prevented the enemy from advancing deep into the territory,” but Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, said on Wednesday that fighting remains ongoing and thousands of residents have already evacuated the area. He added that in a phone call with Putin, Smirnov was ensured that the Russian leader was “keeping the situation under personal control.”

At least 31 people have been killed by shelling, according to local officials in Kursk, though Foreign Policy was unable to verify reports of possible casualties.

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What We’re Following

Bracing for riots. British police prepared for more violent far-right protests on Wednesday as the United Kingdom continues to experience its worst rioting in 13 years. Despite British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warning rioters of lengthy jail terms, protesters still targeted community centers, law firms, and other buildings in at least 30 locations across the U.K. on Wednesday. Many sites encountered counterprotests.

Rioting first erupted last week after online misinformation claimed that a Muslim asylum-seeker was responsible for stabbing three children to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class in Southport, England. The 17-year-old suspect was actually born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan parents. Yet the incident has sparked mass anti-immigrant and Islamophobic protests across the country, with rioters attacking mosques, immigrant-owned businesses, hotels housing asylum-seekers, and ethnic minorities.

Starmer convened an emergency cabinet meeting and ordered a “standing army” of 6,000 specialized police on Monday to help quell the unrest. “If you provoke violent disorder on our streets or online, you will face the full force of the law,” Starmer said. Already, more than 400 people have been arrested, and around 100 have been charged. On Wednesday, officials announced the first sentences issued to rioters: prison terms of 20 months, 30 months, and three years.

New leadership. Nobel Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus returned home to Bangladesh on Wednesday ahead of being sworn in as the country’s interim leader on Thursday. His appointment was a key demand of student protesters after deadly mass protests forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign on Monday. “Let us make the best use of our new victory,” Yunus, who had been in Paris for medical treatment, said in an appeal for demonstrators to remain calm.

Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin said the rest of the interim government will be finalized soon. Already, he appointed Mohammad Mainul Islam to be the new police chief as part of an effort to shake up the top security brass. Army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, who assumed responsibility for overseeing the transitional government’s initial formation, said Dhaka should return to normal in the next few days.

The interim government is expected to rule until new elections can be held. “It’s an opportune moment for any new interim government in Bangladesh to show solidarity with its people, protect the most vulnerable and not repeat the mistakes of the past,” Smriti Singh, the regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, said in a statement.

No royal insults. Thailand’s Constitutional Court unanimously ordered the dissolution of the opposition Move Forward Party on Wednesday over its efforts to amend Article 112, a law forbidding people from insulting the monarchy. Defaming the crown is currently punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Eleven of the party’s executives received 10-year political bans as a result of Wednesday’s ruling. However, most Move Forward lawmakers will largely remain unaffected. They announced on Wednesday that they will form a new party on Friday, as they did in 2020 when their Future Forward Party was disbanded over an alleged campaign funding violation.

Move Forward won the most parliamentary seats in Thailand’s 2023 general election. But conservatives supporting the status quo have routinely tried to block the party’s influence. In January, the Constitutional Court ruled that Move Forward’s efforts to reform Article 112 were unconstitutional and undermined the country’s governance structure. The party denied any intention of treason or of attempting to disband the monarchy. Anti-graft conservatives are also seeking lifetime political bans against 44 current and former Move Forward politicians, including 26 legislators.

Odds and Ends

None of them may be named Billie Jean, but the women competing for Team USA in artistic swimming know how to channel late pop star Michael Jackson’s famous dance moves. At the Paris Olympics on Monday, the nine-woman team took fourth place in the technical routine—but achieved internet fame for its gold-standard upside-down synchronized moonwalk. To the funky beats of “Smooth Criminal,” the U.S. team performed a dancing feat underwater that (let’s be frank) very few people can do well even on land.

The post Ukraine Launches Surprise Attack Into Russian Territory, Kremlin Reports appeared first on Foreign Policy.