Kiev’s forces have been trying to continue their unsuccessful offensive push in the area
The Russian military has thwarted a Ukrainian effort to continue their offensive in Kursk Region, the country’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Combat in the area intensified on Thursday, when the Ukrainian military mounted a major attack to the northeast of the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement controlled by Kiev in the area. The attack involved dozens of armored vehicles and hundreds of troops.
A new video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday shows one of the Ukrainian convoys, which appeared to largely consist of Western-supplied armored cars, come under artillery fire. The convoy deployed a smokescreen and attempted to hide in a wooded area, yet multiple vehicles were struck, the footage shows.
The attack was concentrated around the villages of Ulanok and Cherkasskya Konopelka, located some 9km to the southeast of Sudzha. The Ukrainians apparently sought to push back Russian forces that have approached the town from the southeast, potentially threatening to cut off the last major cross border road under Ukrainian control.
Severing the road to Sudzha would jeopardize the logistics of the entire Kiev-controlled pocket in Kursk Region and possibly lead to the encirclement of the remaining forces there.
Ukrainian troops advanced in the open in large convoys, led by minesweeping and breacher vehicles. They were promptly detected and subjected to artillery and air strikes, and were also targeted by a multitude of assorted drones.
According to the latest estimates by the Russian military, the Ukraine lost over 200 servicemen during the unsuccessful attack on Ulanok and Cherkasskya Konopelka. At least eight tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles and over 30 other pieces of armor were destroyed. The attacking forces also lost three engineering breacher vehicles, a bridgelayer and other support equipment.
