Russia has branded a Ukrainian incursion in the border oblast of Kursk as a “large-scale provocation”.
The European Commission on Thursday said Ukraine has the right to defend itself by attacking targets in Russia following an incursion in the border oblast of Kursk.
“We think that Ukraine is fighting a legitimate defensive war against an illegal aggression,” Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the Commission, told reporters.
“And in the framework of this legitimate right to defend itself, Ukraine is entitled to hit the enemy wherever it finds necessary: on its territory, but also on the territory of the enemy,” he added.
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are involved in the cross-border incursion into Russia which started on Tuesday in Kursk, an oblast located some 500 km south-west of Moscow.
Russian authorities have reported multiple civilian casualties including at least two deaths and 24 wounded.
President Vladimir Putin described the attack, believed to be aimed at drawing Russian reserves to the area in a bid to weaken its offensive in Donetsk, as a “large-scale provocation”.
Other Russian officials have branded it a terrorist act and lashed out at the West’s “cynical silence”.
Stano said, however, that the EU’s position on the conflict has not changed “since February 2022”.
“It is full support for Ukraine in its legitimate self-defence against the aggression. And our support includes political, financial, humanitarian, diplomatic and military assistance. And nothing is changing on this.”
Brussels and the EU’s 27 member states have so far provided support of almost €108 billion to the war-torn country. It has meanwhile slapped Russia with 14 packages of sanctions over its full-scale invasion in a bid to cut its revenue and access to the materials and technologies it needs to wage war.
