Putin's provocation claim ironic amid Kursk region crisis, says US
US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller commented on the statements made by Vladimir Putin, who claimed that the actions of the Ukrainian military are a "provocation." "It's a bit rich coming from them to call it a provocation," said Miller.
Many details provided by Russian media or government representatives are part of propaganda. Such reports form part of the information war conducted by the Russian Federation.
US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller announced that the United States is in contact with Ukraine regarding events in the Kursk region. However, the USA will not comment on the situation on behalf of Ukraine.
Miller highlighted the irony of Vladimir Putin's statement that the current events in the Kursk region constitute a "provocation" by Ukraine. "I have seen the statements from the Russian Government. It’s a little bit rich them calling it a provocation given Russia violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty – you said 900 days; it actually goes back much longer than that, it goes back to 2014 – and continues to illegally occupy Ukrainian territory," said the US Department of State spokesperson.
He also emphasised that decisions on how Ukraine conducts military operations "are decisions that Ukraine makes", while the US policy regarding attacks on Russian territory using Western weapons has not changed.
Putin convened an urgent meeting
The meeting of the Russian Federation's highest leadership, usually held on Fridays, was urgently moved to Wednesday. In the meeting convened by Vladimir Putin, the heads of all security agencies, the heads of both houses of parliament, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu participated.
The situation is unique. For the first time, Ukrainian troops entered Russian territory in such large numbers. On Tuesday, 400 people, 11 tanks, and 20 armoured combat vehicles crossed the border. A state of emergency was declared in the Kursk region on Wednesday, 7th August. This was announced on the Telegram channel by the acting governor of the area, Alexei Smirnov.
