“At around 9:00 a.m. Moscow time (7:00 a.m. in Poland – ed.) in order to stop the advance of Russian troops towards Kursk, the enemy launched a counterattack with an assault group consisting of two tanks, a sappers' vehicle and twelve armored fighting vehicles towards the village of Berdin “- we read in a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Moscow claims its forces “defeated” a Ukrainian attack group, with two Ukrainian attacks allegedly repelled. A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry shows that artillery and small arms battles are taking place in the region, and Kiev's forces are using Western armored vehicles to transfer large numbers of infantry.
Ukraine broke the deadlock. The counterattack surprised the Russians
“The Russians are very worried because they were attacked from several directions and it was a surprise for them. The defense forces are working,” said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council.
Information about the launch of the counteroffensive was also confirmed by the head of the Ukrainian president's office, Andriy Yermak. “Good news. Russia gets what it deserves,” he wrote online.
Accounts from the Russian Foreign Ministry and war propagandists indicate that fighting in the Kursk Oblast took place mainly north of the highway running from Sudza, near the border, to Kursk, the oblast's capital.
One of the bloggers, Yuri Podolyak, stated that the Ukrainian operation is “most likely a diversionary maneuver, perhaps to prepare an attack on Glushkovo, further west.” In his opinion, the city and neighboring Korenewo should be evacuated.
After the last attack in the Kursk Oblast, Russian forces were pushed to the defensive. “Despite strong pressure from the enemy, our troops heroically hold the line,” claimed one of the websites linked to the Russian military at the time.
Ukrainian troops entered the Kursk Oblast on August 6, 2024 and managed to maintain control over part of the territory. According to Kiev and its Western allies, Moscow's forces are supported by approximately 11,000 people in the border region. soldiers from North Korea. Moscow has not yet confirmed or denied their presence.