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HUMILIATING video shows the moment despot Vladimir Putin looked slack-jawed as he’s told by military chiefs that Russia has been invaded.
The tyrant was ashen-faced in a crunch meeting with top generals where they told him 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers had made their way over the border.
![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/dk-07-08-russia-ukraine-v3.jpg)
Putin lashed out on Wednesday, raging against Ukraine’s “large-scale provocation” in the border region of Kursk.
Russian military boss General Valery Gerasimov was forced to face the despot in a meeting and admit how a significant portion of territory in the region had been lost.
The ageing despot, 71, looked quietly furious as he demanded an update on the situation.
Nail-biting footage captured him at the head of a long table flanked by his Kremlin cronies.
On a screen at the other end of the room General Gerasimov says: “Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, numbering up to 1,000 men, went on the offensive in order to seize a section of territory in the Sudzhinsky district of Kursk region.
“Through the actions of units covering the State border along with border guards and reinforcement units, air strikes, missile forces and artillery fire, the enemy’s advance deep into the territory in the Kursk city direction was halted.”
He then tells Putin that 100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 215 wounded.
“Fifty-four units of armoured vehicles, including seven tanks, were destroyed,” he said.
“The operation will be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the state border.”
Russia tried to claim that the situation is under control, despite reports of Kyiv’s success.
Hundreds of Ukrainian troops along with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles launched the bold attack on Tuesday night.
They are believed to have ploughed about 10 miles deep and six miles wide.
A snarling Putin raged: “As you know, the Kyiv regime has undertaken another large-scale provocation.
“It is firing indiscriminately from various types of weapons, including rockets, at civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances.”
It appears to be the first successful large-scale offensive carried out by Ukraine after months of working from a defensive stance on the frontline.
Kyiv officials have yet to officially comment on the operation.
Ukraine’s objectives have not been spelled out but the Russians fear an aim could be to reach Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, a major Russian strategic asset.
Thousands of Russians are evacuating the region amid complaints that Putin’s armed and security forces have failed to protect them.
The town of Sudzha is under partial Ukrainian control and almost ringed by its forces.
A close Putin crony, ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, today lashed out at Ukraine for the incursion – which shocked Moscow – and demanded Russia respond by crushing Ukraine.
It was now “necessary” to “mercilessly defeat and destroy the enemy”, and stage a total invasion, he said.
“From now on, the (war) must acquire an openly extraterritorial character.
“This is no longer just an operation to return our official territories and punish the (Ukrainian) Nazis.
“We can and must go to the lands of the still existing Ukraine. To Odesa, to Kharkiv, to Dnipro, to Mykolaiv (all cities now held by Ukraine).
“There should be no restrictions in the sense of some borders of the Ukrainian Reich recognised by anyone.
“And now we can and must talk about this openly, without embarrassment.
“Let everyone, including the English b*******, realise this: we will stop only when we consider it acceptable and beneficial for ourselves.”
Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, claimed that Ukrainian forces stormed into the Sudzha and Korenevo districts of Kursk Oblast.
Telegram channels with links to Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukrainian forces captured the villages of Nikolaevo-Darino, Sverdlikovo and Oleshnya – and have secured strong footholds in these border areas.
The farthest village claimed to have been captured is some four kilometres inside Russia from the international border.
Other reports claim Ukrainian troops have also advanced into Gogolevka and Goncharovka inside Russia.
Ukraine has yet to comment on these major advances.
The Russian military said Ukraine had sent multiple tanks and armoured combat vehicles across the northeastern border on August 6 in a “massive attack”.
It’s the same region Ukraine-supporting rebels stormed in a two-pronged assault in March.
Why does Ukraine launch cross-border strikes on Russia?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Ukraine has attacked Russia itself a number of times since Russia invaded their neighbour in February 2022.
The strikes have included both ground assaults with tanks and troops, and also by using long-range missiles.
In March, Ukraine-supporting rebels from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), Siberian Battalion (SB) and Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) launched a two-pronged assault.
In May last year, the Free Russia Legion attacked the country as they sought to “build a free Russia”.
None of the incursions have so far been able to hold any land, with the invaders being beaten back or retreating.
Ultimately, they seek to stretch Russian forces, strike Russia in unprotected areas, and destroy critical infrastructure like logistics hubs, ammunition depots, or disrupt Russian events.
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