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None of Russia’s allies have condemned Ukrainian advance into Kursk region. I’m quite surprised about Belarus though
— Anton Barbashin (@ABarbashin) August 9, 2024
"Ukraine has the right to self defense enshrined in international law," Germany's foreign ministry told POLITICO in a statement. "This is not limited to its own territory." Many politicians in Germany’s conservative opposition have provided even more full-throated support for the Ukrainian offensive — and the use of German weapons on Russian territory. Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior lawmaker with the Christian Democrats, told POLITICO it's totally legitimate to strike "staging areas" inside Russia with weapons donated by Germany.
"The question of whether Western weapons are involved doesn't come up because, after they are delivered, they are Ukrainian weapons," said Kiesewetter. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refrained from breaking away from his summer vacation to say anything about the incursion.
Washington's approval in May was very carefully couched and limited to areas near Kharkiv. That's not the same area where Ukrainian troops surged across the border this week — in some places penetrating about 50 kilometers into Russia. But the U.S. isn't making a big deal about the incursion.
The Russian military issued a statement on Friday saying: "Attempts by individual [Ukrainian] units to break through deep into the territory in the Kursk direction are being thwarted." Kyiv has so far refrained from commenting on the operation, although President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday: "Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done."
The evidence that Ukraine is using donated weapons in its offensive is growing.
On Thursday, German tabloid Bild cited surveillance images in reporting that German-supplied Marder infantry fighting vehicles were in Russia. Berlin says it sent 120 of the vehicles. But a German government spokesperson said Friday that the government had no information of its own on the use of German weaponry in the current hostilities.
The chair of the Bundestag’s influential defense committee, Marcus Faber, a member of the FDP, told German media that Ukraine was free to use “all materials” donated, including German-made Leopard-2 battle tanks — of which 58 had been given by the close of July — in the attack. "Ukraine's attack towards Kursk is completely legitimate and makes military sense," he added on social media. "We can only wish the Ukrainian defenders every success."
Kyiv’s Offensive Gets a Greenish Light From Its Allies – POLITICO
