Ukrainian forces have launched new surprise attacks in the Russian region of Kursk, just a few dozen kilometers from their salient and the Russian counteroffensive.
The “salient” refers to the territory of Russia that has been captured by Ukrainian forces since the start of the Kursk incursion and which now constitutes a theater of operations in the region.
Russian forces are also pursuing their counterattack in the Ukrainian salient.
Moscow claims to have retaken 10 localities, but there is no visual confirmation at this stage.
As Ukrainian forces attempt to defend their gains, they have also launched additional attacks outside the salient, making gains in the Glushkovsky district.
Geotagged images indicate that Ukrainian infantry has advanced across the border and into the southwest of Tetkino – about 40 km southwest of the current Ukrainian salient.
Zelensky: Everything is going according to Ukrainian plan
Ukrainian armored vehicles and infantry bypassed Russian anti-tank obstacles of the “dragon’s teeth” type on the border southwest of Novy Put, indicating that Russian forces were not prepared to use these obstacles to repel Ukrainian cross-border assaults.
Earlier on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Russian counterattack in Kursk had been anticipated by kyiv and was “unfolding in accordance with the Ukrainian plan.”
Zelensky said in a conversation with Fareed Zakaria at the Yalta European Strategy that the Russians had begun their “rapid offensive” in the Kursk region of Russia, but had not yet achieved serious results.
“In the Kursk direction, the Russians have started their rapid offensive, they want to use about 60-70 thousand people. We know that there are about 40 thousand people there. They wanted to make rapid breakthroughs… They are doing it, but we have not seen any serious successes yet. Our military is heroically holding its ground and doing everything necessary for our further military and political steps,” he said.
