On August 6, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had launched a brazen offensive in an attempt to seize territory in Russia’s Kursk region. The next day, Russian General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said the advance deep into Russian territory had been halted.
Ukrainian authorities have realized that their attempt at an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is futile and that it is time to wind it down, British expert Alexander Mercouris speculated on his YouTube channel.
“There are reasons to think that the Ukrainian offensive into Kursk is starting to fail and may begin to reverse,” the expert stated, adding that the Kiev regime “never set out clear objectives as to what this operation is about.”
He pointed to media statements by former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk and Mykhailo Podolyak, head of Volodymyr Zelensky's office, that appear to indicate the Kursk operation, planned by Kiev well in advance, was conceived for the purpose of diverting Russian troops from other areas of confrontation, where Ukrainian troops are being defeated.
“But there is absolutely no evidence that that is happening to any degree […] and that any Russian forces have been withdrawn from the frontline,” Mercouris said, remarking that “if, indeed, that was part of the plan, it failed.”
As for trying to discourage the Russian population from showing support for the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine, Kiev has been trying to do that for years to no effect.
“On the contrary, all indications are that it [the Kursk operation] has hardened it,” said the pundit.
The Kursk region, which borders Ukraine in western Russia, was attacked by about 1,000 Ukrainian troops and scores of armored vehicles on August 6. Russian troops retaliated by stopping the Ukrainian military from penetrating deep into Russian territory. A counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime was declared starting August 9 in the Kursk region due to the increased level of sabotage and terrorist threats from Ukraine.
The situation in the Kursk region is maximally under the control of the Russian Armed Forces, according to Akhmat special forces commander Apty Alaudinov. Russia’s military, with the support of Akhmat forces, have cleared and fully control the village of Martynovka, northeast of Sudzha, in the Russian region of Kursk, Alaudinov told Sputnik. The Kiev regime lost up to 1,120 servicemen and 140 armored vehicles during the attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region, the Russian Defense Ministry stated in a briefing on Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of launching a large-scale provocation, shelling Russian regions indiscriminately, and firing at civilian infrastructure and ambulances.
Kursk is ‘decisive battle’ – Chechen commander
The fight in Russia’s Kursk Region is a “decisive battle” which will ultimately lead to Kiev’s collapse, Major-General Apty Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat Special Forces from Russia’s Chechen Republic, has claimed.
©Sputnik/Alexey Mayshev
In a video posted on his Telegram channel on Saturday, Alaudinov, who was appointed deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces in April 2024, said it is “inconceivable” that Russia could be defeated on the battlefield.
The comments were made with regard to Ukraine’s incursion into the border region of Kursk, the largest assault on Russian territory since the outbreak of the conflict between the neighboring states in February 2022.
“I see no reason for you to doubt, to think that we could even lose this battle,” he said, while making an appeal for more people to join the army.
“I urge all of you to make a decision in this battle. The decisive battle,” he said, adding: “Because after this battle, Ukraine will fall,” as well as NATO, Europe, the US, and “all those supporting Ukraine.”
He noted that Americans, Poles, English, and French people have been seen fighting for Kiev. “You have no place… in our land, and we will do everything to keep you out,” he said, stressing that “Russia is more united than ever; we are a force that no one can stop.”
Since the beginning of the incursion on Tuesday, the Ukrainian military has lost nearly 1,120 soldiers and 140 armored vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry stated, adding that the advance has been halted.
Moscow called the raid a provocation and accused Kiev of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the region.
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