Vladimir Putin has been left furious after Ukrainian troops rammed through the Russian border in an astonishing counter-attack on Tuesday.
In the early hours of August 6, over 1,000 of Volodymyr Zelensky's men rampaged into Russia's Kursk region with tanks, drones and armoured vehicles in tow.
Ukrainian forces swept through fields and forests in Russia towards Sudzha, a Russian border town and the last operational trans-shipping point for Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine.
And Putin, 71, was left fuming as the very same country he'd invaded two years ago came surging over into Russia.
Putin and top officials looked grim-faced as Ukraine pierced their borders
Reuters
The Russian premier slated the attack as a "major provocation" - again, reiterating his claim that Ukraine and its Nato ambitions was at fault for his own invasion in February 2022.
Putin claimed Ukrainian forces were carrying out an "indiscriminate shelling" of civilian targets, while pro-Russian military bloggers said Sudzha was "basically lost to us".
But statements from the White House indicate the US is trying to keep its hands clean. Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the country had no advance knowledge of the incursion, and would be chasing up Ukraine for an explanation.
While US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said American rules on Ukrainian use of US weapons - authorised in areas over the Russian border - remained in effect, but that Ukraine's actions were "not a violation of our policy."
MORE HUMILIATION FOR PUTIN:
Statements from the White House indicate the US is trying to keep its hands clean
Reuters
In the wake of the comments from the White House, it became clear Putin wasn't the only high-ranking Russian raging at the Ukrainian attack.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said the attack was an attempt to force Russia to divert resources from the front lines - with Putin's men holding some 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory - and to show the West that Ukraine could still fight.
As a result of the Kursk attack, Medvedev said Russia should press on to take the entirety of Ukraine, adding: "From this moment on, the SVO (Special Military Operation) should acquire an openly extraterritorial character."
And the Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, called the US statements "outrageous", and fumed: "Not a word criticising their clients, not a regret about the victims of the tragedy!"
Medvedev said Russia should press on to take the entirety of Ukraine
Reuters
Though Ukraine itself has remained tight-lipped, Zelensky did not reference the incursion in his nightly video address on Wednesday, while his general staff said fighting had intensified in Sumy, back in Ukraine, across the border from Kursk.
The general staff added that Russian forces had deployed aircraft, helicopters and heavy weapons in the area "but made no headway and suffered significant losses".
But then this morning, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia's aggression was the reason for any escalation, including events in Kursk.
Podolyak wrote on social media: "The root cause of any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuations, and destruction of normal life forms, including within (Russia's) own territories like Kursk and Belgorod regions, is solely Russia’s unequivocal aggression."
