Russia launches new push in Kursk Oblast, Kiev claims attack ‘foiled’

Russian forces launched a new counterattack against Ukraine’s left flank in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, several Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels claimed on October 10.

A Ukrainian official commented that “the Russian plan in Kursk Oblast has so far been foiled” as Russian forces have suffered casualties.

Ukraine launched its cross-border invasion of Kursk Oblast in early August, claiming to initially want to take about 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles), but has recently faced increasing pressure from growing Russian reinforcements.

“No details yet, but the Russian military suffered significant losses in equipment,” said Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation department at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

DeepState, a Ukrainian crowdsourcing surveillance website, reported late on October 10 that Russia had managed to penetrate the left flank of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast.

“The enemy is now trying to gain a foothold near the settlements of Novoivanovka and Zeleny Shliakh,” DeepState said on Telegram. The two settlements are located about 15 kilometers from the Ukrainian-controlled Russian city of Sudzha and about 10 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border.

Parallel messages also appeared on Russian pro-war channels. The well-known channel Rybar wrote that Russian forces launched several attacks in the Korenevsky and Sudzhansky districts, where Ukraine has gained a foothold.

“The advanced groups of Russian troops reached Zeleny Shlyakh by the end of the day, which allows us to claim at least a partial breakthrough in the defense of the Ukrainian armed forces,” Rybar claimed on October 10.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed late on October 10 that its forces had “invaded” Ukrainian-held territory in Kursk Oblast, causing losses in manpower and equipment.

Later, on October 11, DeepState reported that the situation in the region remained difficult, but Ukrainian forces were managing to stabilize it. According to the channel, it has not yet been possible to regain all the lost territory, but Russian forces suffered significant losses in the attack.

The Kyiv Independent Authority was unable to verify all claims.

Russia launched another counterattack against Ukraine’s left flank in mid-September, but this attempt was stopped by Kiev’s troops.

Ukraine’s invasion was aimed at stopping Russian cross-border attacks and diverting Russian troops from the front in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi recently said that Moscow had moved around 50,000 soldiers from other parts of the front to Kursk Oblast.

Two months after Ukraine’s Kursk offensive began, anger in Russia’s border regions is fueling support for the war

Since Ukraine quickly invaded deep into Russian territory in early August, Yan, a resident of the city of Kursk, has been volunteering at a local drop-off point and helping distribute clothing and linens. “The number of people arriving at humanitarian aid points every year is increasing.