The offensive of Ukrainian troops in Russia, in the Kursk region, does not change anything: the Russian army continues to advance in Donbass, in eastern Ukraine. Its troops launch dozens of attacks every day in the directions of Lyman, Siversk, Kramatorsk, Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Vouhledar. There is no breakthrough but regular advances, hundreds of meters by hundreds of meters. “The enemy’s objective [en attaquant la région russe de Koursk] was to make us nervous and agitated to redeploy our troops from one area to another and stop our offensive in key areas, especially in Donbass, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, September 5. [La tactique ukrainienne] Did it work? No! On the contrary […]the enemy has weakened in key areas and our troops have accelerated offensive operations.” The Ukrainian presidency did not deny this. On August 28, Volodymyr Zelensky had acknowledged that the situation was “extremely difficult” near Pokrovsk.
The Russian soldiers are now only 8 kilometres from the city, whose railway station had become a transit point for some of the Donbass residents fleeing the fighting. It also served as a rear base for NGOs operating in the region. Now, it is its residents who must flee.
The Ghost of Mid-September
On September 3 alone, the Ukrainian think tank Center for Defense Strategies counted 61 Russian assaults from positions east and southeast of the city. Most of them were launched by infantry groups of three to six soldiers, supported by reconnaissance drones, but most often without armor to protect them. “Without securing Selydove, the enemy will not be able to continue its offensive towards Pokrovsk, but it will continue to attack in an attempt to break through the defensive line along the Zhuravka and Kazennyi Torets rivers,” The Center for Defense Strategies says that the Russian army could reach the city by mid-September, but would not be able to take it because of the flat terrain that allows for counteroffensives.
Moscow troops are also approaching the mining town of Vouhledar, about fifty kilometers south of Pokrovsk. They are attacking it from the east, west and south. “Several Russian military bloggers claimed that Russian forces had stepped up artillery strikes against Vulehdar, but argued that they should not conduct a frontal assault in the region, given that they had already conducted unsuccessful assaults in the region in 2023,” specifies the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Launched on August 6, the Ukrainian offensive in the Russian region of Kursk continues. It no longer benefits from the surprise effect of the first days which had allowed the Ukrainian army to advance rapidly to seize 1,150 to 1,300 km² of territory, according to the ISW. It is not retreating, however, still gaining “marginal advances”, according to the same source. On Monday, September 2, contrary to official statements by Russian officials who were trying to minimize Ukrainian successes, Putin assured that it was necessary “to deal with these bandits who have entered the territory of Russia […] and who are trying to destabilize the situation in the border territories as a whole.” More “his number 1 priority” The only thing left to do is to conquer the whole of Donbass.
