Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid tribute to the country’s “warriors” in the Kursk operation in an address Thursday marking the six-month anniversary of the operation in Russia.

“With our active operation on Russian territory, we have brought the war home to Russia, and it is there that they must feel what war is.  And they do,” Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

He said Ukrainian soldiers have shown that, even with limited resources, Ukraine can “act decisively, unexpectedly, and effectively.”

“We are exposing Russia’s bluff for what it is – a bluff,” he said.

In its description of the operation, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization, cited the ability of a small group of Ukrainian troops in Kursk oblast to complicate Russian efforts to advance in Ukraine and undermine the Russian military to launch or renew offensive operations in what it called “low-priority areas of the front line.”

“The war in Ukraine, in other words, is not permanently stalemated. Either side can potentially restore, maneuver and begin to gain or regain significant territory. Russia will be able to do so if the West reduces or cuts off aid. Ukraine may be able to do so if Western support continues to empower Ukrainian innovation,” the Institute said in a Thursday news release.

Ukrainian officials reported damage Thursday at a market in the northeastern city of Kharkiv after the latest round of overnight Russian drone attacks targeting multiple parts of the country.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram that debris from a downed drone damaged power lines in the city.

Ukraine’s military said its air defenses shot down 56 of the 77 total drones deployed by Russian forces.

The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, according to the military.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysask said on Telegram that Russian drone attacks and shelling damaged more than 10 houses in his region.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday it destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones overnight.

About half of the drones were shot down over the Sea of Azov, the ministry said, while Russian forces destroyed the others of the Rostov, Krasnodar and Astrakhan regions.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a drone struck a car in the village of Logachyovka, killing three people.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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