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Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Sersky said on Friday (August 16) that Kiev’s troops have advanced one to three kilometers in parts of the Kursk region since they began their invasion of Russia 11 days ago.
Kiev claims to have taken control of 82 settlements in 1,150 square kilometers of the region since August 6. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the figure exceeds the gains made by Russia in Ukraine this year.
Speaking to President Volodymyr Zelensky via video link, Serski reported on the fighting in the Malayaloknia region, about 11.5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and expressed hope that the fighting there would allow Kiev’s military to capture “a large number of prisoners of war.”
“The operation in the Kursk region – we are strengthening our positions and replenishing the ‘exchange fund’ for Ukraine,” Zelensky said on X after Syrskyi’s report.
Officials in Kiev say at least hundreds of Russian soldiers have been captured and have expressed hope for a faster exchange of Ukrainian fighters held by Russia.
Russia called the incursion a “major provocation” and vowed a “due response.” It has been more than two and a half years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that its troops had repelled attacks by Ukrainian troops in several areas, including near the villages of Gordevka and Rusko-Polechnoye.
Zelensky praised Russia’s losses in the Kursk region as “very helpful” for Ukraine’s defense.
“This involves the destruction of Russian military logistics and the depletion of its reserves,” he said in an evening speech.
The Air Force commander in Kyiv, Mykola Oleshchuk, added on Telegram that the aviation forces took an active part in the operation, which targeted the enemy’s supply routes and logistical centers. He posted a video of the attack on the bridge.
Kursk Oblast Governor Alexey Smirnov said Ukraine destroyed a road bridge over the Seym River in the region’s Glushkovsky district.
Eastern Target
However, the most intense fighting is taking place in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops have been slowly advancing towards the strategic center of Pokrovsk for months.
Analysts say one of the aims of Ukraine’s Kursk operation is to disperse Russian forces in the east, but so far there has been no sign of a let-up in the military campaign in eastern Ukraine.
According to local officials, Russian troops were 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6 kilometers from nearby Mirnorad.
“If the goal was to deflect the Russian offensive in Donbass, it has failed so far,” said John Michel, a French military expert and researcher at the IESD institute in Lyon, France.
He said Kiev’s goal was to maximize the effects of the Kursk Offensive, while Russia was trying to do the same in eastern Ukraine.
“Whoever blinks first is likely to stop their attack,” he said.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not forget the east “for a moment” and pledged to provide new weapons beyond the plan to strengthen eastern positions.
Kremlin’s accusations
Influential Kremlin veteran hawk Nikolay Patrushev said on Friday the West and the U.S.-led NATO alliance helped orchestrate Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region, something Washington denies.
“NATO and Western special forces were also involved in the operation in the Kursk region,” he reportedly said, without providing evidence.
“Without their participation and direct support, Kiev would not have ventured into Russian territory.”
The remarks implied that Ukraine’s first acknowledgment of a violation of Russia’s sovereign territory carried a high risk of escalation.
Putin chaired a meeting of Russia’s Security Council that included Patrushev and said the discussion would focus on what Russia calls “new technological solutions” used in special military operations.
“Washington’s efforts have created all the prerequisites for Ukraine to lose its sovereignty and part of its territory,” Patrushev said.
A Russian source told Reuters the incursion could embolden hard-liners in Moscow who favour a bigger war, but Putin’s choice may not be easy.
(Editing by Georgi Gotev)
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