On September 20, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin used binoculars to watch the Tsentr-2019 military exercise at the Donguz shooting range near the city of Orenburg.
Alexey Nikolsky | AFP | Getty Images
Russia said on Wednesday it had launched a massive counteroffensive to retake large swaths of the Kursk region that were captured by Ukrainian forces in a border incursion that began last month.
Russian forces have regained control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, which borders northeastern Ukraine, said Major General Apti Araudinov of the Russian special forces operating in Kursk.
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Araudinov said: “Our situation is very good… Our troops have launched an offensive. From yesterday to today (Wednesday), a total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region were liberated. ” military and political management, told Russian state news agency TASS In the comments on Google Translate.
Ukraine has not commented or confirmed that a Russian counteroffensive has begun, but Western defense analysts said on Wednesday geolocated footage and visual evidence showing Russian troop movements and operations in Kursk confirmed it was taking place.
“Russian forces began a counterattack along the western edge of the Ukrainian salient in the Kursk Oblast, reportedly seizing several settlements northeast and south of Korenevo on September 10 and 11. Russia on September 11 The scale, scope and potential prospects of a counterattack in Kursk Oblast are unclear and the situation remains fluid, analysts at the Institute of War think tank said in an analysis on Wednesday.
Russian forces may intend to temporarily bisect the Ukrainian salient – a military feature that extends into enemy territory and is surrounded on three sides, such as when Ukrainian forces penetrated Russia's Kursk region – “and then begin to become more organized and Well-equipped efforts to advance military operations in Ukraine”. Ukrainian troops withdraw from Russian territory,” analysts said.
ISW noted that visual evidence suggests that Russian troops deployed in Kursk operate in company-sized units of 100 to 250 soldiers and may use more combat-experienced units for counterattacks. If confirmed, the strategy would signal Russia's seriousness about ending an incursion that embarrassed the Kremlin and exposed Russia's national security weaknesses.
Ukrainian forces have advanced rapidly since the start of a bold border raid that began on August 6 and have since taken control of nearly 1,300 square kilometers (about 500 square miles) of territory, seizing 100 settlements and hundreds of Russians in the process prisoners of war, Ukraine’s Army Chief of Staff said at the end of August. The incursion prompted local authorities to evacuate the 150,000 people living in the area and neighboring Belgorod.
Russia appeared alarmed by the Kiev incursion, initially downplaying it and then redeploying troops from the eastern Ukrainian front to the Kursk region, but perhaps not as much as Ukraine had hoped as it looked to halt Russian advances in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv has also said it sees the invasion as a way to gain negotiating power in future peace talks with Russia, which it is likely to push for in the near future as the war approaches its third anniversary.
Russia turns things around
As for Russia, the overall response to the invasion has been muted so far, with Ukraine's Kursk offensive rarely appearing in the tightly controlled Russian media space and receiving little comment from officials, which the Kremlin uses to A common tactic to cover up bad news.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly expressed anger over the invasion, scolding officials and reportedly ordered his troops The attack was quelled by October 1st.
Putin last week described the Ukrainian operation as a “failure”, saying it failed to prompt Russia to redeploy troops from eastern Ukraine to Kursk.
“The enemy's goal is to make us nervous and worried and to move troops from one area to another and to prevent our offensive in key areas, mainly the Donbas,” Putin said, speaking in the east last week. “Does this work? No,” the economic forum said. Comments translated by Reuters.
On August 16, 2024, a pickup truck carrying Ukrainian soldiers drove towards the Russian border in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. The fighting in the Kursk region began on August 6, 2024, when Ukrainian armed forces crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border near the city of Sudja and began to penetrate deep into Russian territory. Within days, they took control of dozens of settlements in the Kursk region. .
Global Image Ukraine | Global Image Ukraine | Getty Images
Ukraine, meanwhile, appears to be abandoning its slightly triumphalist message on its Kursk operation, as momentum appears to have stalled in recent weeks. Ukraine faces a dilemma: whether to send more troops for an invasion or to reinforce forces in eastern Ukraine to prevent Russia from seizing the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
Now Russia is seeking to turn the tide with a Kursk counteroffensive that has been endorsed by Russia's legion of pro-war and pro-Kremlin “military blogs” – Russian defense experts who regularly comment on the war have praised the counteroffensive Kursk and efforts to regain territory.
On August 22, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a meeting via video link at his official residence in Novo Ogaryovo outside Moscow, Russia, to discuss the Ukrainian army’s incursions into Belgorod, Kursk and The situation in the Bryansk region.
Gavriel Grigorov | Reuters
The high-profile pro-war Rybar channel, known to have close ties to the Russian military, Leave a comment on the Telegram social media platform on Wednesday Russian troops are advancing in parts of Kursk and have recaptured several settlements.
“In the Kursk region, Russian troops continue their counteroffensive in the Kozhenevsky region, continuing the gains made in the previous days and driving the enemy out of the occupation line.” the channel saysin the comments on Google Translate.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that 12,000 Ukrainian servicemen have died since the Kursk operation began on August 6. The Defense Department has provided no evidence to support this claim, and both sides often manipulate casualty figures to exacerbate the other's losses.
