Russia says Ukrainian incursion into its territory has halted – evidence suggests it hasn’t
The Russian Ministry of Defense said units of the “North” group of its forces, together with the Russian Federal Security Service, the FSB, “continue to destroy Ukrainian armed forces formations in the Sudzhensky and Korenevsky districts of the Kursk region, which are directly adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian border.”
Ukraine has not officially confirmed its forces conducted a ground operation inside Russia.
Neither the Ukrainian military nor the government in Kyiv has commented on the operation.
Russia accused Ukrainian troops of crossing the border into its Kursk region on Tuesday, claiming that Ukrainian forces launched a “massive attack” and attempted to break through the Russian defenses.
The extent of the attack, including whether Ukrainian troops took over any settlements or caused damage to any strategic targets, remains unclear.
CNN has geolocated video footage from inside a car that is being driven quickly through the deserted and damaged streets of the town of Sudzha, 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the border. Some wrecked vehicles are also seen in the video as the car moves north out of the town. It’s unclear whether the video was shot Wednesday or Thursday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said “attempts by individual [Ukrainian] units to break through deep into the territory in the Kursk direction are being thwarted.”
It claimed that the Ukrainians had “lost up to 400 servicemen and 32 armoured vehicles, including a tank, four armoured personnel carriers, three infantry fighting vehicles and 24 Kozak armoured fighting vehicles.” The ministry’s claims cannot be verified.
Russian military bloggers have described the situation as difficult, with communications jammed. One prominent blogger was seriously injured Wednesday when his vehicle was struck.
Mick Ryan, author of the Futura Doctrina blog and an analyst of the war in Ukraine, said Thursday that the Ukrainian military had deployed “quality formations. It appears that unlike in the 2023 southern counteroffensive where fresh brigades were employed, the Ukrainians have allocated experienced formations to this attack. This already appears to be paying dividends with the depth of the Ukrainian penetration so far.”
The US-based conflict monitoring group the Institute for the Study of War said in its assessment on Thursday that “Ukrainian forces have made confirmed advances up to 10 kilometers” into the Kursk region on Wednesday.
The conflict in Ukraine has sparked concerns in Europe and the world, with international organizations closely monitoring the situation. Russia's military actions in the Kursk region have raised tensions between the two countries, potentially leading to wider geopolitical implications for Europe and the global community.
