Ukrainian forces surge into Kursk: Elite brigades lead surprise attack

There is an ongoing Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region. The attack took the Russians by surprise and has already caused them numerous losses. More and more evidence suggests that the Ukrainians have deployed significant forces, including elite and well-equipped brigades. Among the arsenal of these units, we can find, among other things, Western armoured equipment, including tanks from Poland. So, what weapons are being used during the offensive?

Ukrainian forces crossed the border with Russia on the 6th of August. The Centre for Eastern Studies estimates that initially, it was two platoons comprising several dozen soldiers equipped with three tanks. Reinforcements quickly joined them. A few hours after the start of the operation, about 400 soldiers, along with 11 tanks and 20 different types of armoured fighting vehicles, may have crossed the border with Russia. Including the forces on the Ukrainian side of the border, it is plausible that the entire group numbered up to 2,000 soldiers.

It is difficult to obtain reliable information on the size of the forces currently participating in the fighting. The Russian channel Dwa Majora, with sources close to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, claims that up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers might now be in the Kursk region. Jarosław Wolski, a Polish defence analyst, also notes that the Ukrainians have deployed significant forces, and their movements "do not look like raid actions."

The Centre for Eastern Studies reports that there is confirmation of at least two Ukrainian brigades participating in the fighting near Kursk. These are the 82nd Air Assault Brigade and the 22nd Mechanised Brigade, which are among the best-equipped in the entire Ukrainian army. They are often referred to as elite units. Although the assault is supported by artillery subunits and a large number of drones, the heavy equipment particularly attracts attention.

In the ongoing offensive, the 82nd Air Assault Brigade is using HMMWV multi-purpose vehicles and Stryker M1132, a specialised variant of the American Stryker armoured vehicle.

Its additional equipment includes an LWMR (Light-Weight Mine Roller) mine plough. Thanks to such a vehicle, the Ukrainians can efficiently penetrate Russian minefields located near their state border. Moreover, the Stryker M1132 can automatically send information about marked safe paths to other accompanying vehicles.

Members of the 82nd Air Assault Brigade were given a few British Challenger 2 tanks and German Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The first photos suggesting that the Marders have also crossed the Russian border have appeared on social media. This would mean that German armoured equipment found its way onto Russian territory for the first time since 1944 (at least in a combat role).

The Marder in the 1A3 version provided to the Ukrainians has an engine with 448 kW (600 horsepower) and tracks. Its armament consists of a 20 mm automatic cannon, 7.62 mm machine guns, the Milan anti-tank guided missile launcher with a range of about 1.6 km (1 mile), and a smoke grenade launcher.

There is also considerable interest in the remaining equipment used by the 22nd Mechanised Brigade. Although confirmed information on the types of vehicles it employs in the Kursk region is still lacking, it is worth recalling that this unit uses, among other things, Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks. These were already used in Russia against the local army by the Russian Volunteer Corps and the "Free Russia" Legion during the offensive in the Belgorod region.

In general, the Ukrainian brigade's armament largely consists of Soviet-era equipment and its modifications. After the outbreak of the war, it was also equipped with BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles, BM-21 rocket launchers, 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, and T-72 tanks, including the T-72AMT and T-72 Ural. Western reinforcements mainly include HMMWV vehicles.

The successes of the Ukrainians are aided by the fact that less numerous, poorly trained, and less well-equipped Russian units were stationed in the Kursk region. This is evident from the initial losses, for instance, T-62M tanks. These are designs from the 1980s that are upgrades of the 1960s T-62 tanks. They have a 115 mm gun but lack the support of modern optical devices. They are also poorly armoured, making their destruction possible even with the help of drones.

A much more valuable "trophy" for the Ukrainians is the downing of the Ka-52 Alligator helicopter. This is currently the best attack helicopter in Russian service. It has been in production since 2008, and the value of one unit is estimated at around £13 million.

According to social media information, several Russian helicopters have already been destroyed during the offensive near Kursk. Some of them have been documented. A notable case is the destruction of a Russian Mi-28 helicopter with the help of an FPV drone (First-Person View). As Ukrainian media emphasise, this is the first such case in history.