Russia's Kursk region sees renewed clashes amid Ukrainian advance

Americans have received a new situation report from the Kursk region in Russia, which Ukrainian forces entered at the beginning of August. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that "Russian military command may have intended for additional offensive operations along a wider and more continuous front in northeastern Ukraine."

In the latest analysis, American experts emphasized that the Russian military is conducting counterattacks against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region; however, the Russian army will most likely have to redeploy additional units from other combat areas to this region. Only then will they create a grouping capable of conducting a prolonged counteroffensive.

ISW has not yet observed large-scale combat operations that would indicate that Russian forces have begun a coordinated, wide-ranging counteroffensive aimed at completely driving out Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian troops had started a counterattack on Ukrainian forces, which had taken control of a part of this region in Russia. He added that this is happening according to Ukrainian predictions.

The Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region of Russia, which borders Ukraine, has been ongoing since August 6. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said at the end of August that they had gained control over 500 square miles of territory, containing 100 localities.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian project DeepState, which runs a war operations map, reported that the situation of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region had deteriorated. According to the project, Russians attacked Ukrainian positions on the left flank of their grouping in this region.