On Tuesday, Ukraine launched an attack — on a Russian border town. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Russian villages near its border with Ukraine, in the "lightly" defended Kursk region, were evacuated after an attack by Ukrainian forces.
Russian officials said they met and halted the advance of several hundred Ukrainian soldiers operating Western-made Stryker armored fighting vehicles, tanks, drones, air defense systems, and electronic warfare equipment with border guards, army units, and warplanes.
"It's clear this is something completely new," said Ruslan Pukhov, director of Moscow-based defense think tank CAST. "This is a full-scale army operation."
Following the attack, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States did not receive advance notice of the operation, which he maintained was a normal tactical move. The Biden administration has, according to the Journal, discouraged Ukraine from advancing into Russia.
However, Miller also stated that "nothing about our policy has changed, and with the actions that they are taking today, they are not in violation of our policy."
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said at a press conference on Wednesday that the White House had not been given forewarning of the operation. Jean-Pierre, when asked by a reporter if the Biden administration had received advanced notice, responded with a stern "no."
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack a "major provocation." Meanwhile, notably, Russian warships currently line Cuba's coast.