Kursk Map Shows Ukrainian Forces ‘Ground Attacks’ Amid Russian Counter

Russian forces have repelled Ukrainian troops in Kursk, it has been reported, as a map shows the latest state of play in the Russian region six weeks on from the start of Kyiv’s surprise incursion.

Moscow has responded slowly to the push by Ukraine into Russian territory which started on August 6 in which Kyiv said it had captured 500 square miles and dozens of settlements.

Over the last week, Russian troops have counterattacked with some initial success, but there have not been other significant gains in recent days.

Pro-Russian military bloggers said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops were trying to encircle Veseloye by attacking along its western and eastern flanks. However, Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) said that its forces had managed to push back Kyiv’s attacks southwest and southeast of the village.

Ukraine’s troops have “continued ground attacks” in the Glushkovsky district in the west of the Kursk region “but did not make any confirmed advances,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Tuesday.

The latest map by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank marked the extent of Kyiv’s claims of advances which included the town of Sudzha and neighboring settlements just inside the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region.

It also showed Russian advances in Kursk which included the recapture of the village of Snagost. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

The U.S. has said that Russia would require at least 50,000 troops to retake the territory lost to Kyiv. Ukraine has warned of a growing Russian military presence, with one Ukrainian intelligence official telling the Financial Times Moscow had committed 38,000 men to the Kursk region, including assault brigades redeployed from southern Ukraine.

John Hardie, deputy director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ (FDD) Russia Program said reports of Russian personnel numbers showed Moscow had a “significant force” compared to Ukraine’s estimated 10 to 15,000 troops in the Kursk region. “The Russians would have a manpower advantage assuming all those forces for Russia are concentrated around the Ukrainian pocket,” he told Newsweek.

“At this point, the Russians are currently taking a more patient approach. So far they have cordoned off the area and are hitting Ukrainian positions with artillery and glide bomb strikes and they are taking some territory,” said Hardie.

“We will see whether this this initial small scale offensive will lead to a larger scale one. It’s possible that the Russian forces cannot command and control enough forces at scale to launch a major operation across the entire salient,” he added.