Russia begins retaking part of territory captured by Ukraine in Kursk province | International

The Russian army has begun to retake part of the Kursk province, a territory of the Russian Federation that Ukrainian troops seized in August. Kremlin forces are launching a counteroffensive in the west of the country The breach opened by KyivRussian tanks and troops managed to cross the narrow Seyim River and recapture a dozen cities, according to Defense Ministry data.

The operation was carried out with the support of Russian aviation, which has an advantage thanks to the veto against kyiv not to fire Western missiles on Russian territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russian counteroffensiveeven though he seems confident: “Everything is going according to the Ukrainian plan,” he said. One of the objectives of the operation in Kursk was diverting Russian troops from the Donbass front. With this operation of high symbolic value, kyiv has also sought to touch the table. According to several Anglo-Saxon media, the United Kingdom would unblock the use of its weapons in the coming days. The United States, for its part, is almost convinced of taking this key step.

“The scale, scope and potential prospects of Russian counterattacks in the region [provincia] Kursk are unclear and the situation continues to change,” the daily report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) American. However, information from the ground assures that Russian troops have redoubled their efforts in a mission that President Vladimir Putin has called “sacred”: to reclaim their own territories.

A month and a half after Ukrainian troops took advantage of the lack of protection in Kursk to launch a rapid offensive, the battle on Russian territory has led to a more stable front with a greater concentration of troops.

“Visual evidence suggests that Russian forces are operating in company-sized units and may employ personnel with more combat experience,” ISW added.

Despite the Russian advance, kyiv could have achieved its goal of withdrawing a large number of enemy troops from other fronts. Russian war correspondent Yuri Kotiónok confirmed on his Telegram channel that Russian forces have once again used formations on a scale not seen since the beginning of the war, subjecting them to huge attrition.

“The operations of the Kursk counteroffensive are being carried out by battalion tactical groups (BTGs, as they are called in English) of the Marine Corps and the Airborne Forces,” Kotiónok wrote on his Telegram channel, where he says he has more than 400,000 subscribers.

“The Russian military has stopped using the BTG in the last two years and its resurgence in the region “The Kursk summit, if confirmed, would be a significant turning point,” notes the Institute for the Study of War.

Despite the fact that Zelensky's armed forces blew up several bridges in an attempt to block Putin's troops, the Deep State platform confirmed that the Russian military began on September 10 “assault operations by transporting armored vehicles across the Seyim River, first, and then across other smaller rivers.”

The Russian Defense Ministry claims to have recaptured “over the past two nights” 10 small towns located in the western part of the Ukrainian Kursk salient, about a dozen kilometers from the border: Apanasovka, Biajovo, Vishniovka, Víktorovka, Vnevápnoye, Gordeyevka, Krasnooktiábrskoye, Obukhovka and Snágost and 10-Y Oktyabr.

The Russian war report also states that its troops repelled two alleged Ukrainian counterattacks targeting Fanaseyevka and Snágost, in addition to another attack in the direction of Olgovka, in the northern part of the breach opened by kyiv.

Despite the progress, the Russian Defense Ministry lists as Ukrainian losses only “20 people, including wounded and dead, as well as one armored vehicle and one car destroyed” during the entire operation. As always, Moscow does not mention its own casualties.

On the other hand, the Russian armed forces acknowledge that Ukrainian troops are trying to open new breaches. According to Moscow, its army has stopped two advances into its territory through the cities of Novi Put and Medvezhye.

Veto on long-range missiles

Ukraine still fights with a disadvantage the veto of the United States and Europe to use their long-range missiles against targets on Russian territoryIn its latest war report, Moscow emphasizes that its aircraft not only bombed several brigades on the Kursk front, but also on Ukrainian territory.

“Tactical and operational forces of aviation and missile forces carried out attacks in the Sumy region against the areas where the reserves of Ukrainian mechanized brigades are concentrated,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, before citing a long list of Kiev units, both professional and territorial defense.

The freedom enjoyed by Russian aviation on the fronts close to Russian territory may soon come to an end. Its airfields are among kyiv's priority targets, and London has already authorized Ukraine to launch its missiles. Storm Shadow in Russia, as revealed on Wednesday by the newspaper Tutor.

According to the British newspaper, the United States has also changed its mind and its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, confirmed this in London and Kiev during a meeting in the Ukrainian capital this week. The reason why Washington is preparing to give Zelensky the green light to cross this red line is as follows: Iranian ballistic missile delivery to Moscow“a significant and dangerous escalation.”

All sorts of images of supposed pontoons erected by Russia to cross the river have been circulating on social networks. Mark Krutov, an investigative journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), managed to confirm the veracity of at least one of them, which was not present at least three days before the start of the Russian counteroffensive.

Other military analysts, for their part, have identified the Russian advance thanks to videos obtained from open sources. Expert Rob Lee posted on X, the former Twitter, a recording in which a column of at least eight tanks and other armored vehicles attacked Snágost. According to the analyst, the tanks belonged to the 51st Airborne Regiment.

The Battle of Kursk displaced 133,000 residents of the region and injured hundreds, according to local authorities. The province's health services estimated that 246 people had been injured since the start of the Russian offensive on August 6 through September 10. Similarly, Russia's Tass news agency reported on August 21 that at least three dozen civilians had died in the fighting.

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