Ukraine's NATO-backed military began a large-scale surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk region in early August, sending crack troops, mercenaries, PMC fighters, and an array of Western equipment into the border region amid an accelerating Russian advance through Donbass and flagging Western support.
Attempts by Ukrainian forces to advance have been stopped across the entirety of the Kursk region, with the enemy's main resources destroyed and Russian troops working to clear settlements of the enemy, Akhmat special forces commander Apti Alaudinov has announced.
"It's worth nothing that from the moment our units entered...The first days we were busy stopping the enemy's main forces, and we succeeded. The enemy was completely stopped along the entire perimeter," Alaudinov said in an interview with Russian TV on Tuesday.
According to the commander, the destruction of Ukrainian forces' main resources, including their forward echelons, has "inflicted very heavy damage on the enemy. They lost a lot of equipment, tanks, armored vehicles and a lot of infantry."
"The destruction of the enemy continues, we are already clearing some populated areas. At the moment, work is underway to clear out a settlement. I think at the moment, we no longer have to worry that the enemy, no matter how many more resources he has, could pass through the area where we're situated," the commander said.
"They were stopped at a location that's not very advantageous to them... Even now they have begun to actively dig in. It will not be very favorable for them to even defend themselves, because we at the moment already control the supply, transportation – the enemy's logistics. And he is suffering huge losses on logistics routes daily, too," Alaudinov added.
According to the commander, foreign mercs involved in Ukraine's Kursk operation include servicemen from NATO countries.
"They added a huge number of foreign mercenaries, as many as could be mustered [for the Kursk operation, ed.]. I think that it should be noted that among these foreign mercenaries were people in the direct employ of NATO units," Alaudinov said.
The Akhmat commander is confident that the Kursk operation was a plot by NATO powers designed to distract Russia and cause it to stop its advance through other areas, and stressed that it has been accompanied by war crimes by enemy forces.
"The US and Britain led this operation...This breakthrough was meant to bring us to our knees and choke us. Unfortunately, it turned out that the enemy entered Russian territory, civilians died, shot by the enemy as if they were in a shooting gallery."
Earlier on Tuesday, in an interview with a Chinese war correspondent, Alaudinov said he expects fighting, not only in the Kursk region, but the special military operation as a whole, to be wrapped up within the next two or three months.
Late in the day on Monday, Alaudinov reported receiving a large amount of photographic evidence of Russian civilians "shot point-blank, in the head, in the back of the head." Expressing condolences to the relatives of the victims, the commander vowed they would be avenged.
Ukraine began a large-scale surprise offensive into the Kursk region on the morning of August 6. On Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry reported that the enemy had lost up to 3,800 troops and 54 tanks. The Russian military has deployed large-scale ground formations, aircraft, and drones in the area.
Ukraine Loses Over 4,130 Troops During Operation in Kursk Area - MoD
The Ukrainian armed forces have lost more than 4,130 servicemen since the beginning of the operation in the Kursk direction, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Tuesday.
"In total, during the fighting in the Kursk area, the enemy has lost more than 4,130 servicemen, 58 tanks, 27 infantry fighting vehicles, 50 armored personnel carriers," the MoD said in a statement.
Over the past day, Ukraine lost up to 350 soldiers, 25 armored vehicles, including four tanks, in the Kursk region, the ministry said.
Units of the Russian Battlegroup Sever thwarted attempts by Ukrainian assault groups to attack in five directions in the Kursk region, the MoD noted, adding that Kiev lost more than 60 people and two tanks.
Russian forces also hit four Ukrainian armed forces brigades near eight settlements, the statement read.
Glide bomb wipes out Ukrainian brigade leaders – MOD (VIDEO)
A Russian airstrike has destroyed a Ukrainian command post in Sumy Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has claimed, releasing footage of the overnight attack.
The strike took place early on Tuesday morning, the Russian military said. A supersonic Su-34 multipurpose jet deployed glide bombs against the target, which the ministry identified as operated by the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian ground forces.
The aerial footage shows a dark cityscape with a road junction, which RT understands is located in the middle of the city of Glukhov, some 15km from the Russian border. A massive explosion erupts from one of the buildings, which is marked as a car repair shop on Google Maps. A secondary explosion soon follows.
The Russian military claimed the site was used by the 47th Mechanized Brigade as a command post and munitions depot. Ukrainian military personnel, including officers in leadership positions, were killed in the strike, the report said.
The ministry did not estimate the number of Ukrainian casualties, but unverified reports by military-focused online news media claim as many as 90 troops were killed, including 30 higher up the chain of command than regular soldiers.
Sumy Region borders Russia’s Kursk Region, where Kiev is currently trying to seize territory in an offensive operation launched two weeks ago. One of the goals of the incursion, as stated by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, is to establish a “buffer zone” to prevent Russian cross-border attacks. Moscow considers the incursion terrorist in nature, claiming that Kiev has been deliberately targeting civilians.
The Russian military estimated Ukrainian losses in the offensive at up to 3,800 as of Monday. The push has also cost Kiev hundreds of tanks and other pieces of heavy weaponry, many of which were provided by Western donors, according to the Russian military.
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