Ukraine claims “reinforcement of positions” by advancing in the Kursk region

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Kiev forces were advancing between one and three kilometers in some areas in the Kursk region, 11 days after the invasion of Russia began.

Kiev claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements in an area of ​​1,150 square kilometers (444 sq mi) in the region since August 6. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the number exceeds what Russia has advanced into Ukraine this year.

Briefing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via video link, Syrskyi said fighting took place in the Malaya Loknya region, about 11.5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. He said he hoped the fighting there would allow Kiev’s army to capture “many prisoners”.

“The operation in the Kursk region – we are strengthening our positions and replenishing the ‘foreign exchange fund’ for Ukraine,” Zelensky told X after Syrskyi’s report.

Kiev officials said at least hundreds of Russian soldiers had been captured, expressing hope that it would speed up the exchange of Ukrainian fighters held in Russian captivity.

Russia called the invasion a “major provocation” and vowed to retaliate with a “worthy response,” more than 2-1/2 years since it launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that its troops repelled Ukrainian attacks in several areas, including the villages of Gordeevka, Russkoe Porechnoe and others.

Zelensky hailed Russia’s losses in the Kursk region as “very useful” for Ukraine’s defense.

“It’s about destroying the logistics of the Russian military and draining their reserves,” he said in an afternoon speech.

The commander of the Kyiv Air Force Mykola Oleshchuk added on Telegram that the air force was an active part of the operation, targeting the enemy’s supply routes and logistics centers. Post video of bridge strike.

Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said Ukraine destroyed a road bridge over the Shem River in the region’s Glushkovsky district.

Aim in the East

The fiercest fighting, however, has been underway in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops have been closing in on the strategic center of Pokrovsk for months.

Analysts said that distracting Russian forces from the east was one of the aims of Ukraine’s Kursk operation. But so far there has been no sign of a recession in the east.

Russian forces were 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6 kilometers from nearby Mirnokhrad, according to local officials.

“If the goal was to divert the Russian effort from Donbas, it has failed so far,” said Yohann Michel, a French military expert and researcher at the IESD Institute in Lyon, France.

He said Kiev was aiming to maximize the effect of the attack on Kursk, while Russia was trying to do the same in eastern Ukraine.

“He’s probably the first one to turn a blind eye and have to stop his own attack,” he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine was “not forgetting for a second” the east and promised new arms deliveries – beyond what was planned – to reinforce the positions.