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Ukrainian forces are advancing in multiple directions in Russia's southern Kursk region, even as its own forces struggle to hold the line elsewhere along the front line.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its army had repelled two Ukrainian attacks, while pro-war bloggers confirmed that Ukrainian forces were moving in Kursk. This renewed push comes after Ukraine lost about half of the 1,200 square kilometers of area it seized in August in the Russian region.
Andriy Ermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, wrote on Telegram: “Kursk region, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves.”
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Counter-Disinformation Center, a state communications agency, wrote on Telegram that the Russian side is under attack from “several directions” and is “experiencing great anxiety” from the “sudden” attack.
The Ukrainian authorities did not immediately specify the target of the new attack inside Russia. But the operation will inevitably consume precious weapons and manpower, which is already severely short of supplies on its eastern front, where Russian forces are rapidly advancing.
Russia captured just under 4,200 square kilometers in 2024, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported this week, adding that more than half of the gains were made in the September-November period.
The vast majority of these gains were in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where the subjugation of settlements to Russian occupation has become a daily occurrence.
Nevertheless Western military analysts He said the Kursk incursion into Ukraine gave the country a much-needed morale boost, and that its attempt to hold on to that territory — rather than capture Russian soldiers and withdraw — exacerbated manpower shortages.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Sersky said last August that the hope is that Russia will move forces from the east to defend its territory. But it soon became clear that Russia was determined to continue its offensive in the Donetsk region and would not move its main combat units to Kursk.
North Korea, the Kremlin's main ally, Since then he has sent thousands of its forces to the Kursk region to reinforce Russian forces in the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that hundreds of North Korean troops were killed in Kursk between Friday and Saturday. The Financial Times was unable to verify his claims.
But progress on the Eastern Front came at a great human cost to Russia. Luke Pollard, Britain's Deputy Foreign Secretary for Defence, told Parliament last month that the number of Russian casualties had exceeded 750,000 since the start of the war.
Russia has continued its daily bombing of Ukrainian cities, towns and energy infrastructure behind the front lines, mostly using its now steady supply of Iranian-designed attack drones. However, the country has managed to avoid prolonged power outages, thanks to rapid repair efforts, electricity imports from Europe and a mild winter so far.
Zelensky said that in the first three days of the new year, Russia deployed more than 300 drones and 20 missiles.
On New Year's Day, four Russian drones managed to bypass Kiev's air defenses and struck the city center, including a building just 100 meters from the Ukrainian presidential administration. Those attack drones used a more advanced antenna for satellite navigation, according to electronic warfare experts.
