Russian Ministry of ProtectionThe Russian Protection Ministry stated that Russian troops have recaptured 10 settlements captured by Ukrainian troops in a sudden invasion of Russia’s Kursk border area final month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia had begun “counteroffensive operations, that are in step with our plans in Ukraine.”
Russia stated its “Northern Forces” had recaptured settlements in two days within the space round Snagost, on the western flank of the realm captured by Ukraine in a marketing campaign launched on August 6.
The primary signal of a counteroffensive got here from Chechen particular forces commander Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, who stated Ukraine’s six brigades had suffered heavy casualties.
A Ukrainian officer combating within the Kursk area instructed the BBC that the Russian counteroffensive had begun a long way west of Sudja.
“The combating could be very fierce and the state of affairs just isn’t favorable for us in the mean time,” stated the officer, who spoke on situation of anonymity.
The plain goal of the Ukrainian offensive is to distract Russia from its advance in jap Ukraine. It now claims as a lot as 1,300 sq. kilometers (500 sq. miles) of Russian territory.
Nevertheless, Russian troops proceed to occupy villages in jap Ukraine and method the strategic city of Pokrovsk.
Analysts on the Institute for the Research of Struggle stated the scale, scope and potential prospects of Russia’s counterattack had been unclear and it was too early to attract any conclusions.
A social media account related to the Ukrainian Brigade stated Russian forces launched a shock assault close to Snagost and that Ukrainians had been combating again.
Within the weeks since Ukrainian troops entered the Kursk area, they destroyed three bridges over the Sem River to cease the Russians and later constructed a number of pontoon bridges.
Nevertheless, there are experiences that the Russians had been capable of cross the Appear and different smaller rivers as a part of a counteroffensive.
Russian army knowledgeable Anatoly Matvichuk instructed the Moscow Komsomolskaya newspaper that greater than 100 sq. kilometers of territory had been recaptured and “the enemy’s reserves, reinforcements and logistical provides can now not attain the Kursk area.” .
The Russian army was stunned by the dimensions and depth of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk area early final month.
Whereas Moscow was alarmed by the benefit with which Ukrainian troops seized cities and villages, together with Souza, President Vladimir Putin stated practically a month later that they’d failed.
He stated the Ukrainian military had tried to make Russia nervous, “speeding troops from one area to a different and blocking our offensive in key areas, particularly within the Donbas.”
Not solely did it not work, Putin argued, however the Ukrainian offensive merely aided Moscow’s “foremost objective,” which he believed was the seize of the Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Sumy ProcuratorateRussian troops are at present only a few kilometers away from Pokrovsk and its neighboring city of Mirnohrad, with heavy combating reported on the street resulting in Pokrovsk.
An overpass between the 2 cities was destroyed on Thursday, and the top of the Donetsk area stated water traces to Pokrovsk had additionally been lower, though he stated the city had a number of wells.
In the meantime, a Russian drone assault injured 14 individuals within the northern Ukrainian city of Konotop, an essential hub utilized by Kiev to organize for the Kursk marketing campaign.
The prosecutor of the Sumy border district posted photographs displaying broken condominium buildings within the city. Konotop’s energy provide was disrupted because of the strike, and officers stated vitality infrastructure was severely broken.
