The Russian Armed Forces continue to repel attempts by Ukrainian forces to invade Russian territory, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated on Saturday.
Over the previous day, forces of the Russian Sever Battlegroup, along with reserves, thwarted attempts by enemy mobile groups to penetrate deeper into Russian territory in the areas of Ivashkovsky, Malaya Loknya, and Olgovka through active operations, army aviation strikes and artillery fire.
Ukrainian manpower and equipment were also targeted in the areas of Nikolayevo-Daryino, Guyevo, Lyubimovka, Zelenyi Shlyakh, and Sverdlovka.
The MoD reported that air and missile forces hit Ukrainian reserves in the Sumy region.
A thermobaric missile strike on a temporary foreign mercenary base on the southern outskirts of Sudzha resulted in the elimination of 15 foreign mercenaries.
Over the previous 24 hours, Ukrainian forces reportedly lost up to 175 personnel and 36 armored vehicles, including 10 tanks, three armored personnel carriers, two infantry fighting vehicles and 21 other armored fighting vehicles.
One motor vehicle, three field artillery piece, and a BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launcher were also destroyed.
Since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk direction, Ukrainian losses have amounted to up to 1,120 personnel and 140 armored vehicles, including 22 tanks.
The operation to eliminate Ukrainian formations is ongoing, the Russian Ministry of Defense added.
Russian Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets carried out strikes using bombs fitted with Universal Gliding and Guidance Modules against concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and equipment near the Ukrainian border
"Crews of the multi-role super-maneuverable fighters with thrust vector control, Su-30SM and Su-35S of the Aerospace Forces, conducted a nighttime strike on concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and military equipment in the border area of the Kursk region," the MoD said.
"After receiving confirmation from intelligence about the destruction of the targets, the crews safely returned to their base airfield," the statement added.
Threat to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant
Meanwhile, the situation around the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant has significantly deteriorated in recent days, with a real danger of strikes from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to the state corporation Rosatom.
Rosatom Director-General Alexey Likhachev spoke by telephone with Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to discuss the situation surrounding the plant.
"On the evening of August 9, 2024, a telephone conversation took place between Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, and Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA," A Rosatom statement said. "The conversation was initiated by the Russian side. The key topic of the consultations was the situation around the Kursk NPP."
"In recent days, the situation has significantly worsened," the nuclear power corporation warned.
"On Thursday, August 8, debris and fragments of downed missiles were discovered on the territory of the NPP, including in the area of the radioactive waste processing complex," Rosatom said. "Actions by the Kiev regime on the evening of August 9 led to the disabling of a transformer substation, leaving Kurchatov—the city nearest to the Kursk NPP—without electricity."
"At present, there remains a real danger of strikes and provocations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the NPP," the Russian state corporation reported.
Likhachev stressed to Grossi that the Ukrainian attacks "pose a direct threat not only to the Kursk NPP but also to the development of global nuclear energy as a whole," the statement said.
"The current situation not only negatively affects the normal operation of the Kursk NPP but also directly compromises the principles of nuclear safety and physical security formulated by the head of the IAEA in 2022, thereby undermining confidence in nuclear energy overall," Rosatom concluded.