U.S. Says 'Strongly Supports' Ukraine As Cross-Border Operation Continues For 3rd Day

The United States said on Thursday that it 'strongly supports' Ukraine's effort to defend against Russia’s aggression, as Kyiv's major cross-border operations in the Kursk region stretched into a third day, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"I think you can certainly understand that if the Ukrainian Government isn’t speaking to it, I’m not going to speak to an operation that they are conducting.  Obviously, we strongly support Ukraine’s effort to defend against Russia’s aggression.  That continues to be the case," State Department's spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in the day that Russia needed to “feel” the consequences of its war, as pro-Kyiv forces have reportedly moved several more miles into Russia.

Miller reminded that the Kremlin had launched attacks on Ukraine from the Kursk region and that the United States supported Kyiv’s right to defend itself. “In the area where they are operating,” the spokesperson added, “ … we have seen attacks come from there.”

The independent US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Thursday that Ukraine had made significant territorial gains in the first two days of the incursion. “Ukrainian forces have made confirmed advances up to 10 kilometres into Russia’s Kursk Oblast amid continued mechanised offensive operations on Russian territory,” it said in its latest update.

“The current confirmed extent and location of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast indicate that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defensive lines and a stronghold,” it added.

Kyiv has not officially taken responsibility for the operation, but Zelensky advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, made a cryptic suggestion on social media that Kursk was "karma" for Russia. "The impossible has become possible, and the mythical Russian brutality and boundlessness has turned against Russia itself," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.