In a dramatic change of attitude that has caused an impression on the Western media, but also fears of an imminent and even fierce Russian response to the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk, Moscow, as well known for playing the Kremlin line, went ahead to present on a state channel Olga Skabaeva.
Skabaeva, who in the past few days has faithfully followed Moscow's official position on the issue, "there is no concern from the invasion of Kursk" and tried to downplay the invasion, hinted after a security conference that Putin had with regional governors and military, that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if the invasion continues.
As the presenter reported live on Russian TV:
"The depth to which the invaders have reached inside Russian territory is beginning to cause concern. So I have to make a plea: Ukrainians, don't go any deeper. After all, we are a nuclear power."
A little earlier than the above highly ... televised comment, the Russian ambassador to the USA, Anatoly Antonov, had revealed speaking to TASS, that the President of Russia Vladimir Putin has decided what will be the response of the Russian forces to the invasion of Kursk and hinted that this one will be particularly hard .
As he characteristically told TASS: "I tell you honestly that the president has decided. I am firmly convinced that everyone will be severely punished for what has happened in the Kursk region."
Antonov's comments came hours after Putin held an online meeting Thursday with high-ranking officials, including border region commanders.
In addition, Antonov, who has held his position since 2017, warned that the US may eventually lift all restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine.
He criticized the US government for its two-faced attitude, saying that Washington is like someone who extends one hand of friendship while hiding a dagger behind the other. He called recent statements about Ukraine limiting the use of US weapons in deep strikes against Russia as "provocative".
The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that Russian forces have regained control of the Krupets settlement in Kursk, where fighting has been raging since the invasion of Ukrainian forces.
In addition to Kursk, in the last few hours fierce battles also seem to be taking place in the Donetsk region, i.e. on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine, as can be seen from the reactions of both sides.
Russia has announced that its forces have regained control of a village in eastern Ukraine just 10 miles from the major city of Pokrovsk, which lies next to major roads critical to feeding Ukrainian forces into the region.
The same source reports that Russia captured the village of Ivanivka, on the road to Pokrovsk, located in the Donetsk region. The same source also reported that Russian units prevailed over Ukrainian ones in a series of battles in the area.
Earlier, and before the Russian claims were officially made public, Ukraine maintained that "there are no signs that Russian military pressure is easing along the eastern front within its borders and spoke of the heaviest fighting in weeks near Pokrovsk."
Military spokesman Dmytro Likovii said Russia has moved some troops from occupied southern Ukraine to other areas, but this does not constitute a "major redeployment" for now.
Video: Just 2 Iskanders were enough to burn 5 Patriot guns and a German IRIS-T
Russian missiles destroyed units of US Patriot air defense systems and a German IRIS-T in two different areas of Ukraine, according to a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry.
The US and its allies have sent an unspecified number of air defense systems to Ukraine.
The first video by the Russian Ministry of Defense showed footage of three Patriot artillery units and an AN/MPQ-65 radar station, in a field near Lyubimovka in the Dnepropetrovsk region (central Ukraine).
The site is then hit by cluster munitions from an Iskander-M missile.
As it turns out, the Patriot systems failed (again) to repel the Russian attack and were destroyed.
In the second video of the Russian Ministry of Defense, two Patriot systems and an AN/MPQ-65 radar station can be seen, which are also destroyed:
The third video shows a German-made IRIS-T system and a TRLM-4D radar vehicle operating near the town of Sennoe in Ukraine's Sumy region (near Kursk, Russia) before another Iskander-M missile arrives and obliterates them.
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