Moscow said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a counterattack in the Russian region of Kursk, where kyiv’s forces already control several hundred square kilometers since an offensive in August 2024, a surprise assault two weeks before Donald’s return Trump at the White House.
The assumption of office of “the unpredictable” Republican on January 20 makes kyiv fear a drastic reduction in American support, which is nevertheless vital to the Ukrainian army, and that the leader, who swore he could resolve the conflict “in 24 hours”, will force Ukraine to make concessions against Vladimir Putin.
“Around 9 a.m., the enemy launched a counterattack in order to stop the advance of Russian troops in the Kursk area”the Russian army said in a statement on Sunday.
According to her, “the assault group of the Ukrainian army was defeated by artillery and aviation” et “the operation to destroy units of the Ukrainian forces continues.”
The Ukrainian army, which has remained silent for the moment on this new operation, has occupied several hundred square kilometers of the Russian region of Kursk, on the border, since August 2024, controlling in particular the small town of Soudja.
Russia is now supported in the area by thousands of North Korean soldiers, according to the West and kyiv.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriï Iermak, published a fairly clear message on Telegram, without directly confirming the Ukrainian initiative: “Kursk region, good news. Russia gets what it deserves.”
Andriï Kovalenko, an official of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, affirmed that the Russians “were attacked from several sides, which surprised them.”
The Telegram channel Mash, known to be close to the Russian authorities, for its part assured that “Ukrainian army men move in small groups. The total number of their troops is 2,000.”
According to Russian military bloggers, well informed of the hostilities, Ukrainian forces are trying to take control of Berdine, a small town located about 20 kilometers from the border.
“Enemy electronic warfare equipment is increasingly active on site, hampering the use of drones”the channel said on Telegram “Rybar“, close to the Russian army and followed by more than 1.3 million subscribers.
Before Trump returns
This new Ukrainian offensive in the Russian region of Kursk comes two weeks before the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who called for a ceasefire.immediate“and promised to get a peace agreement to stop”the carnage“, without ever detailing his plan.
He also said he was opposed to Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory with American ATACMS missiles, a red line for Moscow.
This offensive by kyiv also comes five months after a first cross-border assault in the same Russian region of Kursk, which took Russian forces by surprise, a failure for President Vladimir Putin who has praised a “more sovereign” Russia since the outbreak of war. his men’s assault on Ukraine in February 2022.
The master of the Kremlin, who appeared irritated on Russian television in August in the wake of the Ukrainian assault, called on his troops to “repel the enemy” outside Russia.
“The enemy will certainly receive a response worthy of the name”, he had sworn.
kyiv’s objectives were then to force Moscow to redeploy its troops, to attack the eastern front, towards this new front installed on Russian soil, in addition to strengthening its position at the negotiating table before possible talks on peace.
At the end of November, a high-ranking source within the Ukrainian general staff stressed that Ukraine will remain in the Russian region of Kursk “as long as it is of interest”specifying to always control at that time “environ 800 km2”, compared to nearly 1,400 km2 in “maximum” of the assault launched last August.
But if the Ukrainian army still remains very present in Russia, the main expected effect has not taken place and Russian forces have been advancing on the eastern front since the fall at a speed not seen since March 2022.
