Ukraine initiates a new assault in Russia’s Kursk area.

The Russian Defence Ministry reports that Ukraine has initiated a new offensive in the Kursk region of Russia. In a statement, the military declared that attempts to eliminate the Ukrainian assault units are continuing. Ukrainian officials have indicated that an operation may be in progress. In August of the previous year, Ukraine initiated its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, capturing a significant portion of land. In the past few months, Russian troops have achieved significant advances in the region, driving Ukrainians away, but not completely eliminating them.

In a message shared on Telegram on Sunday, Russia’s defense ministry stated: “Approximately at 9am Moscow time, to halt the offensive of Russian forces in the Kursk direction, the enemy executed a counter-attack using an assault unit made up of two tanks, one counter-obstacle vehicle, and 12 armored fighting vehicles.” Andriy Yermak, the leader of Ukraine’s presidential office, mentioned there was “positive news from the Kursk Region” and that Russia was “receiving what it deserves.” Ukraine’s leading counter-disinformation official Andriy Kovalenko stated in a Telegram message on Sunday: ”

The Russians in Kursk are feeling significant anxiety due to being attacked from multiple directions, which caught them off guard.” It remains uncertain if the offensive is extensive enough to create any meaningful shifts on the frontline. Reports indicate that Kyiv’s troops are facing personnel shortages and have been losing territory in eastern Ukraine recently, as Russian forces move forward.

This follows the statement from the Ukrainian Air Force that Russia executed yet another drone strike on Ukraine during the night. It announced that it had downed 61 drones over the regions of Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyy.

The air force reported that while there were no direct strikes, several homes in the Kharkiv Region were damaged by a thwarted drone. In November, Ukraine announced that its forces had clashed with North Korean soldiers in the Kursk area. The arrival of North Korean soldiers was a reaction to an unexpected assault carried out by Ukrainian forces in August, penetrating as far as 18 miles (30km) into Russian territory. Moscow removed nearly 200,000 individuals from border regions, while President Vladimir Putin denounced the Ukrainian assault as a “significant provocation.” After two weeks, Ukraine’s leading commander stated that they had control over over 1,200 sq km of Russian land and 93 villages. Russia has regained parts of that territory, yet Ukraine maintains troops in the Kursk area.