Vladimir Putin is believed to have transferred thousands of troops stationed in the Belgorod region to Kursk after significant Ukrainian incursions – with one expert saying the move was a clear indication that the attacks were “taking their toll”.
Samuel Cranny Evans, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, was speaking after Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces launched a cross-border assault on the Kursk Oblast, surging across Ukraine’s north-eastern border.
Ukraine-aligned blogger Belpepel shared a clip on the Telegram messaging app, commenting: “A column of Russian troops transferred to the Kursk region.
“According to our information, several thousand troops from the Belgorod region were transferred to the Kursk region and the bordering Krasnoyarsk region.
“Also, the regions neighbouring the Kursk region were reinforced by Belgorod border guards and other units. We are keeping an online record of everything that is happening in the Kursk region.”
Another clip appeared to show a column of seven Russian armored vehicles on fire near the town of Oktyabrskoe.
Russian troops are battling to push back Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region on the third day of one of the largest cross-border incursions of the war, the Russian Defence Ministry said yesterday.
A spokesman said the Russian military and border guards had blocked Ukrainian forces from pushing deeper into the region in southwestern Russia. It added that the army is attacking Ukrainian fighters trying to advance into the area from Ukraine’s Sumy region.
They added: “Attempts by individual units to break through deep into the territory in the Kursk direction are being suppressed.”
Ukrainian troops had advanced as much as nine miles into Russian territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. The data has not been officially confirmed.
Mr Cranny Evans admitted he had been “surprised” by the Ukrainian operation – while sounding a note of caution.
He said: “The Ukrainian forces do seem to be performing well and are taking a toll on the Russian units there.
“It is likely that Russia will have to pull forces from other areas like Belgorod to try and stem the advances and limit the damage they cause.”
He warned: “The main question, as is always the case with offensives in this war, is what will it cost and what will the Ukrainians not be able to do because of that cost. For instance, if the offensive somehow breaks the Russian army and causes a general rout, then it will have been worth the risk.
“However, if it does not do that and only succeeds in tying Russian conscripts down who are only able to serve inside Russia, then it may end up doing that at the expense of Ukrainian territory being taken.
“Those units seem to be well equipped and effective, they might have made a better contribution in Donetsk in the fights for Chasiv Yar and Toretsk.”
Kyiv has not commented on the incursion. In a video address to the nation late Thursday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky did not mention the fighting in the Kursk region but emphasised that “Russia brought the war to our land, and it should feel what it has done.”
He continued: “Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals,” adding that he received three “productive reports, exactly the kind our country needs now” from the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Russia says the military has stemmed Ukrainian advances in the border area about 320 miles southwest of Moscow, but military bloggers and open source data indicate Ukrainian troops have made gains in several areas in Kursk.
The Kursk region’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on conditions there by video link Thursday. Smirnov said the region plans to equip gas stations with electronic warfare units and to provide them with unspecified armored defense.
Kursk regional authorities reported Wednesday that at least five civilians, including two ambulance workers, were killed. Russia’s Health Ministry said 66 civilians, including nine children, have been wounded in the Kursk region in the three days of fighting.
Putin, who described the incursion as a “large-scale provocation” that involved “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, residential houses and ambulances” was briefed on the situation by his top military and security officials on Wednesday.
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