Russia Eliminates Ukrainian Salient in Major Kursk Counteroffensive

Vladimir Putin’s troops have stepped up their counterattacks against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region where they have made advances into Kyiv’s salient, it has been reported, as a map shows the latest state of play in the area.

Kyiv had said that it has captured at least 500 square miles of territory in the Kursk oblast just over the lightly defended border since it staged its bold incursion in August which raised concerns about overstretching Ukrainian forces, especially as it was followed by Russian gains in the Donetsk oblast.

On Friday, it appears that Russian forces have pushed into the main Ukrainian salient and “almost entirely” eliminated the smaller Ukrainian salient in the Glushkovsky district, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.

Russian military bloggers said Mosow’s troops had surrounded Ukrainian troops in the villages of Lyubimovka and Tolsty Lug, although the Washington, D.C. think tank said it could not confirm either these claims, or reports of Russian battalion-sized mechanized assaults in the area or the recapture of any settlements.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council rejected claims of Moscow’s gains, saying the “Russian plan in Kursk Oblast has been thwarted so far” as Russian forces “suffered significant losses in equipment.”

Meanwhile, the latest ISW map of the area shows Russian advances on south and west of the town of Veseloye and north of Lyubimovka on Thursday and Friday.

The Ukrainian open-source intelligence outlet DeepState UA said on Friday that the situation in the Kursk region “remains difficult, but under control” and that Kyiv’s forces are conducting “stabilization” efforts but has not yet been possible to regain control over everything that was lost.

“The enemy suffered considerable losses during the assault, so it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold,” the post said according to a translation. “The worst is now, probably, in Lyubimovka, but we have to wait for the end of the new round of maneuver warfare.”

Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.

The ISW said that Russia is likely trying to push Ukrainian forces out of Kursk while terrain conditions are dry before rainy autumn and winter weather would make any maneuvering difficult and encourage Ukrainian forces to entrench themselves.

Earlier, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi told a documentary shown by Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, that Russia had deployed to Kursk 50,000 troops who had been transferred from other fronts.

However, he said that this move weakened Russia’s position on other parts of the battlefield in Ukraine, in particular the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kramatorsk fronts.