On August 6, the Ukrainian army made a surprise invasion of the Kursk region with a dozen battalions and defeated the unprepared Russian forces, occupying hundreds of square kilometers of Russian land.
Humiliated, Russian President Vladimir Putin initially did not react and simply watched as Ukrainian forces advanced. Forbes reported that Putin has now ordered his army to counter-offensive and regain full control of the Kursk region – until October 1.
Russia's counteroffensive to push Ukrainians out of the Kursk region has officially begun, military analysts said. Ukrainian observers admit that the situation for ZSU has worsened.
This is a delicate situation for Ukrainians at a delicate time. The General Staff in Kiev took a great risk by ordering an attack on Kursk. The reason is that the situation for Ukrainians on the front in Eastern Ukraine is extremely difficult. In Donbass, the Russian army is advancing slowly but methodically, already close to the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian forces around Pokrovsk are outnumbered four to one – and they recently lost their best brigade when the battle-weary 47th Mechanized Brigade withdrew from the front line after spending a staggering 15 months in continuous engagement with the enemy.
Five weeks after the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk, it is still debatable whether the decision to invade was the right one for Ukraine. The Ukrainians must strengthen their front line in the east and will seek to hold territory in Kursk. But it is unclear whether they can do both with the powers at their disposal.
Russian armed forces have launched a significant counteroffensive against Ukrainian troops who entered western Russia a month ago and have regained some territory, Reuters reported yesterday, citing data from pro-Russian military bloggers. “In the Kursk region, the Russian army began counter-offensive actions on the western flank of the enemy wedge, reducing the Ukrainian-controlled area near the state border,” reported the blog “Dva Majora”. Russian forces have taken control of several villages in the western part of Russian territory that Ukraine had seized, pushing Ukrainian forces east of the Malaya Loknya River.
The cross-border attack launched last month by Kiev in Russia's border Kursk region was aimed at diverting Russian forces from their advance in Ukraine's Donbas. This was stated by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu said Russia has sufficient forces and has continued its offensive in Donbass. “Until we expel them (Ukraine's armed forces) from our territory, we, of course, will not hold any negotiations with them,”, Shoigu said.