War in Ukraine, day 938 | Russian counteroffensive in Kursk region stopped, Ukrainian army says

(Kyiv) The Ukrainian army said on Wednesday that it had halted the Russian counter-offensive in the areas of the Kursk region that it controls, specifying that “several thousand” Russian civilians were still in these territories.

The Ukrainian incursion that took the Russian military by surprise in August after two and a half years of invasion is the first by a foreign army into Russia since World War II, and is a snub to Vladimir Putin. Kyiv is believed to control some 1,000 km² and a hundred localities.

In mid-September, Russia launched a counteroffensive and claimed advances, but according to Kyiv, the operation was halted.

The Russians “tried to attack from the flanks, but they were stopped, the situation stabilised and today everything is under control,” Ukrainian regional command spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrachkivsky told AFP.

“They have achieved some minor successes, but this success has now turned into a virtual encirclement for them,” he further said, “The Russians entered one locality. They started fighting for another locality, but that’s it.”

However, the Russian counteroffensive has not yet failed, and Moscow claims to have launched new attacks to retake lost territory.

“The Russian operation in the Kursk region is still ongoing, so it is too early to say that it has completely failed,” a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of Russian civilians

Spokesman Dmytrachkivsky further said that “several thousand” Russian civilians were still in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

They are mostly elderly people, but there are also children, he said, adding that a woman had given birth to a “healthy” boy in the territory.

Mr Dmytrachkivsky also accused the Russian military of launching airstrikes, including using gliding bombs, against its own territory in the area controlled by Ukrainian troops.

In a statement, the Russian army assured that it was on the offensive in some areas of the Kursk region, and was repelling Ukrainian attacks in others.

At least “23 civilians killed” have been killed in these strikes since the end of August, he said.

AFP is unable to confirm the veracity of these statements.

The spokesman denied any allegations of mistreatment of civilians by Ukrainian military personnel.

“They receive water, food, bread, the military does not offend them,” he said, adding that shops and pharmacies were not operating.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Russian army said it was on the offensive in some areas of the Kursk region and was repelling Ukrainian attacks in others.