Russian army faces challenges in Kursk counteroffensive effort

Americans have a new situational report from the Kursk region in Russia, into which Ukrainian forces advanced at the beginning of August. Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that "Russian military command may have intended for additional offensive operations along a wider and more continuous front in northeastern Ukraine. "

In the latest analysis, American experts emphasized that the Russian military is conducting counterattacks against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region. However, the Russian army will most likely have to transfer additional units from other operational areas to this region. Only then will they create a formation capable of conducting a prolonged counteroffensive.

ISW has not yet observed large-scale combat operations that would indicate that Russian forces have begun a coordinated, wide-ranging counteroffensive aimed at completely displacing Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian troops had launched a counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces, which had taken control of part of that region in Russia. He added that this is happening according to Ukrainian predictions.

The Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region of Russia, which borders Ukraine, has been ongoing since 6 August. The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said at the end of August that they had taken control of 1,300 square kilometres of territory, which includes 100 localities.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian project DeepState, which maintains a map of the war activities, reported that the situation for Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region had worsened. According to the project, the Russians attacked Ukrainian positions on the left flank of their formation in this region.