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Fighting continues in Russia’s Kursk region as Ukraine carries out largest cross-border incursion of war so far

Source: Meduza

On August 6, pro-war Russian Telegram channels reported that a Ukrainian formation had crossed the border and advanced into Russia’s Kursk region. Later that day, Russia’s Defense Ministry and Federal Security Service (FSB) both separately confirmed the incursion. According to pro-war channels, the fighting is ongoing and Ukrainian troops continue to advance toward the town of Sudzha. Here’s what we know so far.

On Wednesday, the pro-war Telegram channel Rybar reported that Ukrainian troops had occupied the settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino, Darino, and Sverdlikovo in the Kursk region’s Sudzhansky district and were attempting to take control of the Rylsk-Sudzha highway. Rybar also noted that Ukrainian and Russian forces were engaged in battles in Goncharovka, a suburb of Sudzha, and Oleshnya, a settlement along the border.

According to Rybar, Ukrainian troops have captured the Sudzha gas metering station, through which Russian gas flows to Europe. The station is 500 meters (547 yards) from the border, near the Sudzha checkpoint. It remains unclear if Ukrainian forces have taken control of the checkpoint. Military bloggers reported that border guards are still defending the area.

In turn, the pro-war channel Two Majors reported that Ukrainian troops are in Darino, Sverdlikovo, Gogolevka, and Goncharovka, and that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) have taken control of Russian positions in Oleshnya and are remotely mining the Sudzha-Belitsa highway. Two Majors asserted that Ukrainian forces “cannot be dislodged from the occupied territory,” and that the town of Sudzha has been “effectively evacuated.” According to the channel, Russian military aircraft and drones targeted advancing AFU columns in the Sudzha area overnight. The channel also claimed that, “judging by open sources,” the front line in the Kursk region is 10-11 kilometers (about 6.5 miles) wide and the AFU has advanced some 10 kilometers (about six miles) toward the area west of Sudzha.

According to various reports, one or two AFU battalions have crossed the border. Rybar claims that up to 400 Ukrainian soldiers have entered the Kursk region and that up to 2,000 more are concentrated along the border. The pro-military Telegram channel Archangel Spetsnaza Z asserts that two Ukrainian battalions (up to 800 soldiers) are advancing toward Sudzha.

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The reported damage

Both the Ukrainian and Russian sides have suffered equipment losses. Ukrainian Telegram channels circulated photos purportedly showing two Russian tanks and a Ka-52 attack helicopter destroyed by the AFU. The Telegram channel Monitor published a photo of the downed helicopter, while the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState, which works closely with the country’s Defense Ministry, shared an image of two tanks that were reportedly destroyed at the entrance to Sudzha.

The independent outlet Agentstvo reports that, based on footage of damaged military equipment geolocated by military experts, Ukraine has lost several armored vehicles and at least one surface-to-air missile system.

According to DeepState, published footage shows Ukrainian forces striking Russian infantry on the grounds of the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in the border village of Gornal. Russian Telegram channels circulated a photograph of one of the monastery buildings with visible damage from direct shelling (the exact date the photo was taken is unknown).

A widely circulated video shows two Russian planes flying over a road and a burning vehicle. According to DeepState, the video was filmed on the eastern outskirts of Sudzha.

Several Russian soldiers have been taken prisoner. On August 6, Ukrainian Telegram channels shared a video of Russian soldiers who were reportedly captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during fighting along the border. At least six Russian soldiers were captured, including at least two conscripts.

What officials are saying

Local authorities have not provided new details about the fighting in the Kursk region. Governor Alexey Smirnov stated that the region is “heroically resisting attacks by Ukrainian Nazis,” and that all emergency services have been placed on high alert. He also called on citizens to donate blood at local hospitals.

On August 6, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that up to 300 AFU servicemen, supported by 11 tanks and more than 20 armored combat vehicles, attacked Russian border guard positions near the settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshnya in the Kursk region. The ministry claimed that Russian forces destroyed 16 Ukrainian armored vehicles during the fighting. That evening, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian detachment attempting to break through into the Kursk region had retreated after suffering losses. Shortly thereafter, the ministry edited the message, removing the words about the retreat. Meanwhile, Smirnov called the situation at the border “tense” but under control. 

On August 7, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that during the night, Russian military forces and the FSB “continued to destroy Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the areas of the Kursk region directly adjacent to the Russian-Ukrainian border.” “Air strikes, missile forces, artillery fire, and active operations by [units covering the border] prevented the enemy from advancing deeper into Russian territory,” the ministry said. The Defense Ministry claims to have struck AFU reserves in Ukraine’s Sumy region, causing the Ukrainian army to lose “up to 260 fighters and 50 units of armored vehicles,” as well as air defense missile systems. There is no independent confirmation of this information. The ministry added that “the operation to destroy AFU formations continues.”

According to Governor Alexey Smirnov, Ukrainian drones struck the Sudzha area twice in the early hours of Wednesday. One drone dropped an explosive device on a road leading to the village of Belaya, reportedly injuring two children. The second strike hit an ambulance near Sudzha, killing the driver and a paramedic, and injuring a doctor. Smirnov added that four missiles and three drones were shot down over the Kursk region overnight. Kursk Telegram channels posted a video allegedly showing the city of Kurchatov, where explosions can be heard in the recording. On Wednesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that four drones had been shot down over the Kursk region during the night.

All public events in the Kursk region have been canceled, and several thousand residents have been evacuated from shelled border areas, according to a video message published by the governor on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Russia’s Health Ministry, at least 31 people, including six children have been injured as a result of the attacks on the Kursk region, reported RIA Novosti. On Wednesday evening local time, Smirnov said that at least five people had been killed by the attacks, including a pregnant woman.

As of this article’s publication, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate had not commented on the situation.

During a meeting with government members, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the AFU incursion into the Kursk region a “large-scale provocation,” claiming that the “Kyiv regime” was “indiscriminately firing with various types of weapons, including missiles, at civilian buildings, houses, and ambulances.” He said he intends to meet with the heads of the security agencies, the Defense Ministry, and the FSB.

Meduza’s analysis

This AFU offensive is unlike the raids into Russia’s Belgorod region that Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) units conducted in 2023. This time, instead of a few light infantry companies reinforced by a dozen armored vehicles, full-fledged mechanized companies with a large number of armored vehicles, likely from the battalions of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade, are operating on Russian territory.

In early summer 2024, this brigade, which had been fighting in the Chasiv Yar area, was sent north as reinforcements. In the weeks that followed, videos from near the Ukrainian side of the Sudzha checkpoint, which was seized by Russian forces, were posted on the brigade’s Facebook page. However, other units are also participating in the offensive, including a large air defense group. Additionally, videos have shown equipment previously used by other brigades, such as a modified Stryker armored vehicle. So far, only Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade has been using Strykers in combat.

Based on the scant video evidence available, the AFU appears to be focusing their main strike west of Sudzha. In a day, they managed to cross the Rylsk–Sudzha road and advance as far as Leonidovo, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the border. It’s not entirely clear how close the Ukrainian forces have managed to get to Sudzha from the west and south; there’s no reliable evidence that they’ve captured Sverdlikovo, the village closest to Sudzha along the road from Rylsk.

On the first day of fighting, the Ukrainian battalions were met by weak border defense forces — border guards and infantry from a regiment formed in 2023, partially made up of conscripts. It was infantrymen from this regiment who were captured at a strongpoint 100 meters (109 yards) from the border, which was covering the approach to the Rylsk–Sudzha road.

In the initial hours of the attack, the Russian command tried to halt the Ukrainian breakthrough using bombers and helicopters. (Russia’s Kursk region falls under the responsibility of the operational group “Sever,” which has been advancing on Kharkiv and Vovchansk in Ukraine since May 2024.) They managed to strike several armored convoys but could not stop the advance.