Russia Repels Ukrainian Troops in Parts of Kursk, Commander Reports

Moscow – Russian forces have initiated a substantial counter-offensive against Ukrainian troops, who managed to penetrate into western Russia last month. According to pro-Russian war bloggers and a senior Russian commander, they have succeeded in reclaiming some territory.

On August 6, Ukraine launched its most significant foreign attack on Russia since World War II, breaking through the border into the Kursk region with thousands of troops, backed by numerous drones and heavy weaponry, including arms supplied by Western nations.

Major General Apti Alaudinov, who leads Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces in Kursk, reported that Russian troops have gone on the offensive and regained control of approximately ten settlements in the Kursk area. He expressed optimism about the situation, stating, "The situation is good for us."

Alaudinov, who also holds a position as the deputy head of the military-political department of the Russian defense ministry, claimed that around ten settlements in the Kursk region had been "liberated." However, due to reporting restrictions on both sides of the conflict, these battlefield claims could not be independently verified. The Russian defense ministry reported that they have successfully defeated Ukrainian units in several villages within Kursk.

There has been no immediate response from Ukraine regarding these developments. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned last week that his forces controlled 100 settlements in the Kursk region, covering an area exceeding 1,300 square kilometers (approximately 500 square miles), a statement that is contested by Russian sources.

Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger, as well as fellow bloggers Rybar and the Two Majors, indicated that a significant counter-offensive had commenced in Kursk. The Two Majors blog noted, "In the Kursk region, the Russian Army launched counter-offensive actions on the western flank of the enemy’s wedge, reducing the Ukrainian zone of control near the state border."

Podolyaka added that Russian forces had seized several villages located on the western edge of the territory that Ukraine had captured, thereby pushing Ukrainian forces eastward beyond the Malaya Loknya River, south of Snagost.

Additionally, Russian forces have made advances in eastern Ukraine and are reportedly engaged in combat in the center of the town of Ukrainsk, located within the Donetsk region, according to various Russian war bloggers and open-source maps of the conflict.