April J Ward

The Defense Department on Thursday said Ukraine’s attack into a region of Russia this week is not escalatory and is consistent with U.S. policy. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that Ukraine is “taking action to protect themselves” in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops entered Tuesday night and are continuing to fight, putting enormous pressure on Russia. “We have supported Ukraine from the very beginning to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border and for the need for crossfires,” she said. The U.S. has a policy of allowing Ukraine to makes strikes in Russia with American-made weapons as long as it is related to a cross-border attack from Russian forces, and Singh said the Kursk attack, even though it involves troops instead of missiles or drones, is consistent with that policy. “We don’t support long-range attacks into Russia,” she said. “These are more for crossfire [and …] they are aware of U.S. policy and what we are

The Defense Department on Thursday said Ukraine’s attack into a region of Russia this week is not escalatory and is consistent with U.S. policy. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that Ukraine is “taking action to protect themselves” in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops entered Tuesday night and are continuing to fight, putting enormous pressure on Russia. “We have supported Ukraine from the very beginning to defend themselves against attacks that are coming across the border and for the need for crossfires,” she said. The U.S. has a policy of allowing Ukraine to makes strikes in Russia with American-made weapons as long as it is related to a cross-border attack from Russian forces, and Singh said the Kursk attack, even though it involves troops instead of missiles or drones, is consistent with that policy. “We don’t support long-range attacks into Russia,” she said. “These are more for crossfire [and …] they are aware of U.S. policy and what we are

The strategic goal of Ukraine's biggest cross-border incursion in almost 900 days of the war remains unclear, but it counters Russia’s unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defenses at selected points along the front line in eastern Ukraine. The Russian offensive's slow, grinding momentum has achieved only modest gains and brought heavy losses of troops and armor. But, bit by bit, the advances are adding up. These summer months are critical for Ukraine and its depleted army. It must hold at bay its bigger and better-equipped enemy on the battlefield, while repairing — before winter arrives — a national power grid smashed by Russian missiles, What does Ukraine’s eastern front battlefield look like? The roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line remains largely deadlocked. But at points in the east, especially in the Donetsk region. Russia is making a concerted push. Its army is exploiting the dry land to move its armor, the bushy tree lines for i