Photo credit: CNA
Ukraine has lost over 40% of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counterassaults, according to a senior Ukrainian military source.
Reuters reports that the source said Russia had deployed 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv’s forces swept in and advanced swiftly. They caught the Russian forces unprepared two and a half years into the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The source said, “At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometres, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing counterattacks.
“Now, we control approximately 800 square kilometres. We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”
With the advance into Kursk, Kyiv aimed to stem Russian attacks in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, forcing Russia to pull back forces gradually advancing in the east and giving Kyiv extra leverage in future peace negotiations.
However, Russian forces are still advancing in Ukraine’s eastern Donestk region.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s primary objectives were to occupy the entire Donbas, which consists of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and oust Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.
