In Kursk Oblast, three powerful Ukrainian brigades are engaged in intense fighting with Russia’s marines and North Korean soldiers attacking from two directions, Forbes reports.
During the operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, initiated in August 2024, Ukrainian forces advanced up to 35 kilometers into Russian territory, capturing hundreds of soldiers and inflicting over 20,000 casualties on Russian troops. However, the advance has recently stalled due to bolstered Russian defenses and reinforcements.
Forbes described the latest battles with the Russians as an “apocalyptic fight” that is costing them dozens of pieces of equipment and hundreds of lives.
“That doesn’t mean the Russians won’t win. The Kremlin has built a manpower machine to pump replacement troops into the fight. The machine can’t function forever, of course. But there’s no sign it’ll run out of raw material any time soon,” said the report.
According to The Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies, the Russians have regrouped on the Kursk front.
The report suggests that Russian leadership aims to reclaim the captured territory in the region and is willing to pay for it with thousands of lives.
The Kremlin may also be motivated by the victory of Republican Donald Trump in the US presidential elections, as he has promised to end the war in Ukraine on his January inauguration day. A freeze along the current front line would mean territorial losses for both sides.
Currently, Ukrainian forces are facing off against Russian troops in BTR-82 armored personnel carriers with Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault Brigade, the 47th Mechanized Brigade equipped with US-supplied M-1 tanks and M-2 fighting vehicles, and the newly reorganized 17th Heavy Mechanized Brigade.
These Ukrainian troops are reportedly destroying Russian equipment nearly as fast as it arrives at the front.
In the village of Pogrebky, at least three “cemeteries” of armoured personnel carriers have already formed, containing large numbers of dead Russian soldiers. Despite this, some vehicles have managed to get past Ukrainian mines, drones, missiles, and artillery, allowing them to push Ukrainian positions back.
The Russians are also receiving support not only from North Koreans but also from “mercenaries from African countries and Cuba” sent from a training base in occupied Crimea to Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade.
Related:
- Russia uses golf carts and motorcycles for assaults in Donetsk Oblast
- Russian forces reportedly enter Selydove city council building – DeepState
- ISW: Ukrainians advance near Toretsk, Pokrovsk; Russians gain ground near Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove
- Frontline report: Ukrainian forces decimate Russian recon units and halt advance in Toretsk using coal mine heights
