Ukraine has lost over 40% of land it held in Russia’s Kursk region: Senior Kyiv military source
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A Ukrainian armoured vehicle driving near the Russian border in Ukraine’s Sumy region, bordering Kursk, in August 2024.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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KYIV – Ukraine has lost more than 40 per cent of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it rapidly seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said.
The source, who is on Ukraine’s General Staff, said Russia had deployed some 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv’s forces swept in and advanced swiftly,
“At most, we controlled about 1,376 sq km, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counter-attacks,” the source said.
“Now we control approximately 800 sq km. We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”
The Kursk offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II and caught Moscow unprepared.
With the thrust into Kursk, Kyiv aimed to stem Russian attacks in eastern and north-eastern Ukraine, force Russia to pull back forces gradually advancing in the east and give Kyiv extra leverage in any future peace negotiations.
But Russian forces are still steadily advancing in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main objectives were to occupy the entire Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and oust Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.
“For Putin, the most important thing is to push us out of the Kursk region. I am sure that he wants to push us out by Jan 20,” Mr Zelensky told the media, referring to when US President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president. “It is very important for him (Putin) to demonstrate that he is in control of the situation.”
The Ukrainian General Staff source reiterated that about 11,000 North Korean troops had arrived in the Kursk region in support of Russia, but that the bulk of their forces were still finalising their training.
The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Kyiv’s freshest assessment of the state of play in the Kursk region. Reuters could not independently verify the figures or descriptions given.
Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of North Korean forces in Kursk.
Ukraine’s armed forces chief said on Nov 11 that its beleaguered forces were not just battling crack Russian reinforcements in Kursk but also scrambling to reinforce two besieged fronts in eastern Ukraine and bracing themselves for an infantry assault in the south.
Threat in eastern Ukraine
The General Staff source said the Kurakhove region was the most threatening for Kyiv now as Russian forces were advancing there at 200m to 300m a day and had managed to break through in some areas with armoured vehicles backed by anti-drone defences.
The town of Kurakhove is a stepping stone towards the critical logistical hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
Overall, Russia has about 575,000 troops fighting in Ukraine at the moment, the Ukrainian General Staff source said, and is aiming to increase its forces up to around 690,000.
Russia does not disclose numbers involved in its fighting, and Reuters could not independently verify those figures.
As Ukraine fights a bigger and better-equipped enemy, Kyiv has sought to disrupt Russian logistics and supply chains by hitting Russian weapons and ammunition depots, airfields and other military targets well inside Russia.
Ukraine gained a freer hand to do so earlier in November after, according to sources familiar with the matter, US President Joe Biden dropped his opposition to Kyiv firing US-supplied missiles at targets deep inside Russia
Last week, Ukraine fired US ATACMS and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles
Moscow vowed to respond to what it sees as an escalation by Ukraine’s Western supporters. On Nov 21, Russia launched a new medium-range ballistic missile
Ukrainian officials are holding talks with the US and Britain regarding new air defence systems
The Ukrainian General Staff source said the military had also implemented measures to bolster air defences over the capital Kyiv and planned similar steps for the city of Sumy in the north and Kharkiv in the north-east, both near front lines.
Russia now occupies a fifth of Ukraine.
Mr Putin has said he wants Kyiv to drop ambitions to join the Nato military alliance and retreat from four Ukrainian regions that he partially holds, demands Kyiv has rejected as tantamount to capitulation. REUTERS
