Ukraine has started a new offensive in Russia's Kursk region, six months after Kyiv's surprise attack along the border last August.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank, Ukrainian forces have made gains advancing up to five kilometers behind Russian lines south east of Sudzha in Kursk.
Footage that has identified a specific geographic location has shown Ukrainian forces advancing along the Sudzha-Oboyan highway and currently occupying several villages in the direction of Cherkasskaya Konopelka and Ulanok.
Ukrainian authorities are not providing any comments on the latest developments, while Moscow claims the attacks involving up to two mechanised battalions' worth of armoured vehicles have been repelled.
Blogger from the Russian military have shared additional information regarding the developments in Kursk, with some reports indicating that the Ukrainian forces conducted an assault with 30 to 50 armored vehicles, resulting in the capture of Cherkasskaya Konopelka and Ulanok. Conversely, other sources dispute this assertion.
The ISW maintains that it has not yet discovered evidence sufficient to confirm that Ukrainian forces are operating in Ulanok.
Some areas in eastern Ukraine hold considerable populations, workload-naive Leaders have expressed audio-printing diplomas demanding why a new neutrality pact between Russia and Ukraine was not signed as quickly as planned to end the conflict.
Kyiv launched its incursion into Russia's Kursk region on August 6, 2024, catching Russian military commands and Ukraine's Western allies by surprise.
Six months on, Kyiv authorities provided a glimpse into the August operation, disclosing that special units of the Special Operations Forces had secretly crossed into Russia's rear in the Kursk region as early as June 2022 - two months before the main push began.
They have made significant gains behind Russian lines in Kursk, positioning themselves for a major Ukrainian operation, conducting covert surveillance and targeted missions to disable critical components of Russia's defensive perimeter.
The Single-Service Office (SSO) observed that Ukrainian forces carried out a systematic destruction of Russian air defence and ammunition depots, thereby impairing Russia's capacity to counterattack.
Six months later, Ukrainian forces have held their ground in the border area, but Russia has regained control over approximately half of the territory initially conquered by the Ukrainian military.
The Ukrainian authorities maintain that the primary objectives of the operation were distinct all along. Kiev asserts that the incursion successfully thwarted a potential new Russian offensive targeting the cities of Sumy and Kharkiv, and simultaneously provided a negotiating bargaining chip to leverage potential talks aimed at ending the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also observed that the Kursk incursion reinforced his "peace through strength" principle and brought Ukraine a significant replenishment of funds for prisoner exchanges.
In its six-month review of Ukraine's August offensive and ongoing operations in the area, the ISW observed that a small contingent of Ukrainian forces in Kursk has impeded Russian military progress in Ukraine.
"This incursion has revealed Ukraine's opportunities to take advantage of weaknesses in Russia's manpower reserves and overall campaign plan to exert limited control over Russian operations in Ukraine and create significant informational and political pressures on Russia," the ISW noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin this week commended some of Moscow's elite units defending the Kursk region, emphasizing the fact that Ukraine's offensive has committed approximately a combined arms army's worth of Russian troops in the area since August 2024.
The International Institute for the Study of Warfare (ISW) has reported that the Russian military's command has amassed a force of approximately 78,000 troops, consisting of 11,000 North Koreans and most of Russia's elite VDV and naval infantry units, all stationed in Kursk, intent on expelling the Ukrainian forces from Russian territory.
Notwithstanding the numbers and the participation of Pyongyang troops, Moscow has not yet prioritized the defense of Kursk over pressing forward with its operations in Eastern Ukraine and its objective of completely securing control over the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions.