Kyiv/Moscow: Ukrainian troops have seized 100 settlements in Russia since they broke into bordering Russia’s Kursk region on August 6, Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said. “We continue to advance forward, inflicting significant losses on the Russian troops in manpower and equipment,” Syrsky was cited as saying by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Tuesday.
According to Syrsky, Russia has redeployed about 30,000 troops from other areas to the Kursk region and is now trying to form “a defensive ring” around the Ukrainian forces, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that its Akhmat special forces had carried out a reconnaissance operation, securing a commanding height in the Sudzha district in the Kursk region, previously held by Ukraine.
The height was located 400-500 metres away from Ukrainian forward positions. The Russian troops can now monitor Ukrainian military movements, TASS reported citing a source at the scene. Syrsky said that Ukraine launched an operation in Kursk with the aim of creating a buffer zone to prevent shelling in Ukraine’s adjacent Sumy region, adding that his troops continue to advance and have captured 594 Russian servicemen.
According to Syrskyi, Russia is trying to oppose Ukraine by withdrawing troops from other fronts. He said that Russia is not withdrawing forces from the Pokrovsk front in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where he said the situation remained “difficult”.
The Kursk region has been the site of an offensive since the night of August 5-6, when Ukrainian forces entered the region near the town of Sudzha, about 10 km (6.2 miles) from the border. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of carrying out a “large-scale provocation” and “indiscriminate shooting,” defining the incursion as a “terrorist attack”.
Days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted it was an “operation” by Ukraine’s troops, specifying that the goal is to create a “buffer zone” against Russian attacks.
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