Ukraine has already lost 40 per cent of the territory it occupied in Russia’s Kursk Oblast in a major offensive in August this year, news agency Reuters reported citing Kyiv military sources on Saturday (Nov 23). Owing to a massive wave of Russia’s counter-offensive, Kyiv has faced a major setback in the region.
Russia is now said to have prepared about 60,000 men to take Kursk back in its entirety, reportedly involving troops from North Korea.
“At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometres (531 square miles), now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks,” Reuters quoted the source as saying. “Now we control approximately 800 square kilometres (309 square miles). We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”
The Kursk offensive by Ukraine was the first territorial incursion Russia witnessed since the Second World War. The biggest objective of the offensive was to thwart Russian advances in eastern Ukraine and force Russia to pull troops back to focus on defending its own territories.
However, despite Ukrainian forces managing to occupy a considerable chunk of Russian territory in Kursk, Moscow’s troops continued making advances in Ukraine.
Russia’s rapid advances in eastern Ukraine
Reuters quoted the source as saying that the Ukrainian position in the Kurakhove region was the most volatile, where Russian forces were making advances of 200-300 meters (yards) a day and had managed to break through in some areas with armoured vehicles backed by anti-drone defences.
The source said that there are over half a million Russian troops currently fighting in Ukraine, with Russia expected to reinforce them with almost 200,000 additional troops in the coming days. Russia has not confirmed these numbers so far.
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