Troops that were being prepped to bolster Kiev’s combat activity next year were sent into Russia, media claim
The incursion into Kursk Region in Russia has forced Ukraine to commit a reserve force that Kiev had been building with Western support for operations later this year and in 2025, the WSJ reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the operation.
As many as 6,000 soldiers were reportedly sent to Kursk and up to 4,000 additional troops were deployed in support roles in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, which borders Russia, according to the newspaper.
The incursion into Kursk was conducted by Ukrainian military forces on August 6, marking the largest assault on Russian territory since the outbreak in February 2022 of the conflict between the neighboring states.
Earlier this week, Major-General Apty Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia’s Chechen Republic, said that Ukraine had deployed around 11,000 soldiers to conduct its attack, which Kiev was planning to complete in five days by capturing the Kursk nuclear power plant.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Ukraine hoped that the massive cross-border offensive will prompt Moscow to scale back attacks elsewhere on the battlefield, but Russian forces have reportedly advanced on Pokrovsk, a key road and rail hub for supplying Ukrainian militants in Donbass.
Earlier this week, acting governor of Kursk Region Aleksey Smirnov said that around 28 residential areas there remain under the control of the Ukrainian military. According to the official, 12 Russian civilians have been killed and more than 120 wounded during the unprecedented attack. Over 120,000 people have been evacuated from the region, he also pointed out.
Mikhail Podoliak, the top adviser to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, claimed earlier this week that the incursion is aimed at “convincing Russia” to enter into a “fair negotiation process.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the main goals of the attack were to improve Kiev’s negotiating position, force Russia to redeploy troops from Donbass, and to destroy the unity of Russian society. He also emphasized that peace talks with Ukraine are impossible as long as it conducts strikes on civilian populations and threatens nuclear power plants.
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