While continuing to repel a fresh Ukrainian onslaught inside the Kursk area of western Russia, where a second day of intense fighting was underway, Russia stated Monday that its forces had achieved significant progress in eastern Ukraine.
The town of Kurakhove, 20 miles south of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian supply center that Russian forces have been moving toward for months, has been taken by its forces, according to the Russian defense ministry.
According to the ministry, capturing Kurakhove, which has resisted for weeks, would allow Moscow’s forces to accelerate their assault in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The majority of Kurakhove was found to be in Russian control by the Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState, which uses open sources to track the front line. Russian forces were still attacking Kurakhove, according to Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, although the Ukrainian side was attempting to locate and drive back Russian assault formations on that front line.
Before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to end the almost three-year-old conflict quickly, enters office on January 20, both sides are battling to strengthen their positions on the battlefield.
The primary accomplishment of Ukraine in the last five months of conflict has been the seizure and retention of a portion of territory inside Russia’s Kursk area, which may give it a significant negotiating advantage in future peace negotiations.
Although a top Ukrainian official stated that Russia is receiving what it deserves, Ukraine has not disclosed specifics of the fresh offensive it initiated in Kursk on Sunday.
Near the town of Berdin, near a road heading northeast toward the city of Kursk, Russia’s military ministry said that the main Ukrainian force had been destroyed and that the attempted Ukrainian breakthrough had been thwarted.
According to a top Russian general, more attacks are anticipated.
This isn’t the end, of course. Naturally, we know that he (Ukraine) will attempt to strike in this direction since we are currently documenting a concentration of enemy equipment in that direction. Major General Apti Alaudinov, head of a Chechen battalion fighting for Russia in Kursk, stated, “At this time, I will not disclose the location.”
Even as Russia pushed farther into eastern Ukraine, Ukraine was attempting to hold onto its pocket of Kursk for as long as possible, according to independent military researcher Franz-Stefan Gady.
He told Reuters, “There’s a chance that we haven’t yet seen the main thrust of this Ukrainian offensive operation.” In essence, we are discussing company-sized and platoon-sized attacks with so far relatively little progress. It is reasonable to believe that this attack involves several hundred Ukrainian forces.
Gady noted that it was still unclear if Kyiv’s soldiers would be able to open up another line of attack.
According to Ukrainian and Western estimates, some 11,000 troops from North Korea, a Russian ally, have been sent to the Kursk region to assist Moscow’s forces. Their presence has not been verified or disputed by Russia.
More than 1,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement Monday. Because it lacks access to the Kursk conflict zone, Reuters is unable to confirm the number of casualties.
The European Union, the United States, and Britain have all reiterated their support for Kyiv in response to the latest Ukrainian attack.
According to international law, Ukraine’s right to self-defense transcends its boundaries, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters in a statement.
Russia has launched many attacks from the Kursk region as part of its illegal war against Ukraine. Therefore, under international law, Russian military forces there are legal targets.
“We are committed to putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield, including by surging security assistance and utilizing all available resources authorized by the Congress,” a U.S. State Department official stated on Sunday.
Britain promised to be for Ukraine no matter what.
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