As Ukrainian troops have been invading Russia's Kursk Oblast for more than a week, Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a tug-of-war.
Ukraine announced that it would continue to advance in Kursk and capture 74 settlements. A video of Ukrainian soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag in a village in Kursk was leaked on social media. On August 14, 2024, Belgorod Oblast, adjacent to Kursk, also declared a state of emergency.
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On the other hand, Russia did not reduce its offensive force in Ukraine because of the attack on its homeland. Instead, it launched the most fierce attack on Pokrovsk, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine, in a week. Invading the Russian mainland and relieving the defense pressure in eastern Ukraine is considered one of the purposes of the Ukrainian army's attack on the Russian mainland. Ukrainian officials said that Russia has transferred some soldiers from eastern Ukraine, but the number of transfers is limited.
Kursk saw
Ukraine and Russia have engaged in a war of words and psychological warfare over the fighting in Kursk, with both sides claiming they have the upper hand in the exchange of fire.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskySocial MediaA video of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Alexander Serski reporting on the battle situation was released. Serski said that the Ukrainian army controlled 74 settlements in Kursk Oblast and captured 40 square kilometers of Russian territory in the past 24 hours.
Serski admitted that the fighting was fierce and the entire front was in exchange of fire, but the Ukrainian army was advancing deeper into Russian territory. The Ukrainian military previously stated that since entering Kursk on August 6, the Ukrainian army has occupied about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.
Zelensky said that Ukrainian troops had captured more Russian soldiers from the Kursk battle and that "bargaining chips" with Russia were increasing. He urged Sergey to continue to push forward the next key plan for the Kursk operation.
Ukraine kept the plans and objectives of Operation Kursk strictly secret. To this day, it remains a mystery how many troops Ukraine has deployed in the operation. The Russian Ministry of Defense initially estimated that the Ukrainian army's vanguard had 1,000 people, and observers have recently speculated that Ukraine has deployed up to 12,000 soldiers in the operation, with at least 4 to 5 brigades of the army entering Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Khershy TikheyevichOn Tuesday, he said Ukraine had no intention of occupying Kursk territory, but that the Ukrainian army would protect the lives of Ukrainians. He accused Russia of launching more than 2,000 attacks on Ukraine from Kursk in recent months, saying Ukraine's actions in Kursk were to protect Ukrainians.
One of the purposes of Ukraine's attack on Kursk is to temporarily occupy part of Kursk's territory in order to have more bargaining chips in future ceasefire negotiations with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin also mentioned this matter in an emergency meeting, saying that Ukraine launched an armed provocation to strengthen its position in future negotiations. He accused Ukraine of this move to intimidate Russians, create divisions, and impact Russia's internal affairs.
Putin ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to expel Ukrainian troops from Russian territory, warning that "the enemy's subversive actions will be met with due retaliation."
Tuesday,Russian Ministry of DefenseIt was announced that Russian reserve soldiers, army aviation, drone units and artillery units had successfully stopped the Ukrainian army from advancing towards Kursk. The Russian Ministry of Defense released images of Su-34 fighter-bombers carrying out air strikes against Ukrainian troops, showing that the Russian army prevented the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade of Ukraine from advancing towards the settlement of Martynovka, which is about 25 kilometers from the border.
According to data released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on the same day, a total of 420 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 55 armored vehicles were destroyed on Monday. So far, the Kursk operation has resulted in the deaths of 2,030 Ukrainian soldiers. On the Russian side, at least 121,000 Kursk residents were evacuated, and another 12 civilians were killed and 121 injured. Kursk Acting GovernorAlexey SmirnovIt said the authorities were preparing to dig 46 kilometers of anti-tank trenches and 40 kilometers had been completed.
On Wednesday, Belgorod Oblast, which borders Kursk, also declared a state of emergency.Governor of Belgorod OblastVyacheslav Gladkov accused Ukraine of frequent artillery and drone attacks on the state, which caused damage to residential buildings.
Russia launches offensive in eastern Ukraine
The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, released a report on Tuesday.Battle ObservationThe report shows that the Ukrainian army is active in 41 settlements in Kursk, not 74 as the Ukrainian authorities said. At the same time, although the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it had successfully stopped the advance of the Ukrainian army, observers said that the Ukrainian army was advancing to the north of the village of Snagost.
The blue shadows are the areas that the Ukrainian army claims to have occupied, which has not been fully confirmed. Image source: Institute for the Study of War
The think tank’s previousObservation ReportIt pointed out that when the Ukrainian army first entered Kursk, the Russian army's response was chaotic, "there was no obvious front line, and the Russian army did not know where the Ukrainian army was." The report speculated that the Russian authorities currently let the Russian Federal Security Service and the Russian National Guard be responsible for dealing with the Ukrainian guerrilla squads that have penetrated deep into Kursk. The Federal Security Service and the National Guard also launched a defensive counterattack in Kursk together with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Ukrainian and US officials recently revealed that in order to support Kursk, Russia has begun to transfer some soldiers from the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, involving Zaporizhia and Kherson in southeastern Ukraine.Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro LikhovThe number of Russian troops being relocated from eastern Ukraine is "small," said Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas-Kaschinas, who said some Russian troops stationed in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave surrounded by NATO members, were also being relocated.
The Institute for the Study of War Studies speculates that Russia is sending irregular troops stationed in eastern Ukraine to Kursk, and the relevant troops are not key troops on the Ukrainian battlefield. The Russian army may also send soldiers originally planned to be sent to the eastern front line of Ukraine to Kursk.
In response to Ukraine's offensive on Kursk, Russian forces on Tuesday launched their most violent attack in a week on the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk.Ukrainian military data showsOn that day, the Russian army launched 52 attacks on the Pokrovsk front, with a daily average of 28 to 42 in the past week.
according toUkrainian mediaAccording to reports, the city of Pokrovsk and surrounding areas continue to be hit by Russian air strikes. Due to the intensive Russian offensive, the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the Pokrovsk frontline have been unable to change shifts due to continuous fighting, and the army's supply is also facing great difficulties.
Currently, the Russian army has controlled about 18% of Ukraine's land. Since late July, Russia has launched a large-scale offensive against Pokrovsk, which is a key point for Ukrainian military logistics and the intersection of highways and railways in eastern Ukraine.
