Ukraine is intensifying attacks on the Russian region of Kursk – National
Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a new offensive in the Kursk region, an area in western Russia where Russian forces have been trying to oust Ukrainian troops for the past five months.
Ukrainian troops breached the border in a surprise attack on August 6 and managed to hold on to some territory that could provide Kyiv with important negotiating points for peace talks.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces hit Ukrainian forces, but other reports from Russian military correspondents suggest the Russian side was under more pressure.
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on Telegram that there was “good news” from Kursk, adding: “Russia is getting what it deserves.”
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's official Center Against Disinformation, wrote on Telegram that Russian soldiers were attacked in many places.
A Russian statement said Ukraine attacked around 0600 GMT near the village of Berdin with two tanks, a mine-clearing vehicle and 12 armored vehicles with paratroops.
“Artillery and aircraft of the Northern group of (Russian) forces defeated the attack group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he added.
The statement said two Ukrainian attacks had been repelled. Reuters could not independently confirm the situation on the ground.
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Reports from widely read Russian war bloggers, who support Moscow's war in Ukraine but often report critically on failures and setbacks, indicated that the invasion of Ukraine has put Russian forces at least temporarily on the defensive.
“Despite strong pressure from the enemy, our units held the line heroically,” the Operativnye Svodki (Operational Reports) channel said in the first hours after the attack.
In a recent update, another influential blogger, Yuri Podolyak, said that Russian units gained control of the situation after initial “mistakes” and surrounded Ukrainian forces north of the highway leading to the regional capital Kursk.
Kursk acting governor Alexander Khinshtein told people to rely only on official sources, and warned displaced residents not to return to unsafe areas without permission.
Ukrainian and Western research says that up to 11,000 troops from Russia-allied North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow's military. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday: “In the battles yesterday and today near one village, Makhnovka, in the Kursk region, the Russian army lost an army of North Korean soldiers and Russian soldiers.”
He did not provide specific details. An army can vary in size but usually consists of several hundred soldiers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in response to a question during his annual marathon phone call last month that Russia would definitely evict Ukrainian forces from Kursk but refused to put a date on when this would happen.
Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, but Ukraine's unexpected success in holding back a piece of Russian territory could boost its negotiating position as the two sides prepare for possible peace talks this year.
Both have been fighting to improve their positions on the battlefield before US President-elect Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20. Trump has repeatedly said he will quickly end the war, but without saying how.
By making some of its units more effective in attacking Kursk, Ukraine, however, has weakened the defense of its eastern regions where Russian forces have advanced since August at their fastest pace since 2022.