Russian Ministry of DefenseThe Russian Defense Ministry said Russian troops had recaptured 10 settlements captured by Ukrainian forces in a surprise attack last month in the Kursk border region of Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia had “launched countermeasures in accordance with Ukraine’s plan.”
Russia said its “Northern Troops” had recaptured settlements around Snagost over the past two days on the western flank of territory captured by Ukraine in an operation launched on August 6.
The first signs of a counteroffensive came from the commander of Chechen special forces, Major General Abti Alaudinov, who said six Ukrainian brigades had suffered heavy losses.
A Ukrainian officer fighting in the Kursk region told the BBC that the Russian counteroffensive began some distance west of Suu Kyi.
“The fighting is very intense and the situation is not in our favor,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.
The Ukrainian offensive began with the intention of impeding Russian advances into eastern Ukraine, which now covers 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of Russian territory.
However, Russian forces continue to occupy towns in eastern Ukraine and are approaching the strategic city of Pokrovsk.
Analysts at the U.S. Institute of War Studies said the scale, scope and potential prospects of a Russian counteroffensive were uncertain and it was too early to draw any conclusions.
A social media account linked to the Ukrainian brigade said Russian forces had launched an unexpected attack near Snagost and that Ukrainian forces were counterattacking.
Russian military expert Anatoly Matvichuk told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that more than 100 square kilometers of territory had been recaptured and “the enemy’s reserves, reinforcements and supplies can no longer reach the Kursk region.”
The Russian military was surprised by the scale and intensity of the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region early last month.
Moscow was shocked by the ease with which Ukrainian forces took several cities and towns, including Sud, but President Vladimir Putin announced nearly a month later that they had failed.
The Ukrainian military tried to destabilize Russia – “rushing forward and sending troops from one region to another to try to stop our offensive in key areas, especially in Donbas,” he said.
Putin claimed that the Ukrainian offensive was not only ineffective, but only helped Moscow capture its “main target”: Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Su-mi Prosecutor’s OfficeRussian troops are currently stationed just a few kilometers from Pokrovsk and the neighboring city of Mirnohrad, and heavy fighting is reported on the approaches to Pokrovsk.
An elevated highway linking the two cities was destroyed Thursday night, and the Donetsk regional leader said water pipes to Pokrovsk had also been cut, although the city had access to several wells.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike injured 14 people in the northern Ukrainian city of Konotop, a key staging area for Kiev as it prepares for Operation Kursk.
The Sumy border district prosecutor’s office posted photos showing damaged apartment blocks in the village. The strike cut off power supply to Konotop, and officials said the energy infrastructure was significantly damaged.
