Russian troops are fighting fierce battles in the Kursk region against Ukrainian fighters, including hundreds hiding in a monastery, in an attempt to drive them from Kiev's last major stronghold on sovereign Russian territory. This was stated by military bloggers quoted by "Reuters".
Ukrainian forces invaded across the border with Russia in August last year and captured almost 1,400 sq km of Kursk in an attack that surprised Moscow. Kiev has indicated that it aims to hold onto a piece of the area to use as bargaining chips in future talks to end the war.
In response, Russia has sent in heavy reinforcements, including North Korean troops, and within weeks the area under Ukrainian control has shrunk dramatically.
The latest battlefield maps from Deep State, a Ukrainian open-source data project, show that Kiev holds only a narrow section of Kursk.
The Russian Defense Ministry and pro-Russian military bloggers have reported heavy fighting in Gornal, Guevo, and Oleshnya, three neighboring villages that border Ukraine's Sumy region.
Mash, a Telegram channel close to Russia's security services, reported that Ukraine was trying to organize its defenses on the high ground around Gornal, where more than 300 soldiers have taken refuge in the monastery of "St. Nikolay Belogorsky".
According to the channel, there is an underground passage under the monastery, "through which the Ukrainian armed forces evacuate and supply ammunition for long-term defense".
Another channel in Telegram - SHOT, also claims that Ukraine is withdrawing reserves to Gornal through the monastery passage.
The military blogger "Diary of a Paratrooper" indicated that if Ukraine loses its positions in Guevo and Gornal, Russian troops would encounter little resistance when invading across the border into Ukraine's Sumy region.
"The territory and landscape in this area are such that if the enemy loses this part, then there is a lowland and the enemy will not be able to hold the defense of Sumy region", writes "Diary of a Paratrooper".
A senior Ukrainian general warned last week that Russian forces were stepping up attacks along Ukraine's northeastern border in an attempt to break through to Sumy region, adding that his troops were conducting defensive and assault operations to maintain a buffer zone in Kursk.
Roman Alekhine, whose Telegram channel has over 180,000 subscribers, said that Ukraine would try to hold the heights around Gornal "with all its might" strength, regardless of losses".