MOSCOW: Russian glide bombs have struck a concentration of Ukrainian troops near the border of Russia’s western Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

It said the attack was directed against “a strongpoint and concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel”, and the bombs were delivered by a Russian Su-34 warplane.

Ukraine caught Moscow by surprise on Aug 6 by bursting across the border into the Kursk region, in the first invasion of Russian sovereign territory since World War Two.

Russia has been trying for more than two months to eject the Ukrainian forces. Earlier on Sunday, the defence ministry in Moscow said it was pursuing offensive operations at several dozen locations in the region.

As of early September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces controlled more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles) of Kursk, including 100 settlements. On Saturday he said Russian forces had tried to oust Ukrainian troops “but we are holding the designated lines”. Russia said its forces had taken back several villages last week.

The outcome of the fighting in Kursk could have a significant impact on the course of the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

If it can hold on to a slice of Russian territory, Ukraine will have a valuable bargaining chip in any future peace negotiations.

On the other hand, its decision to commit a substantial force to the Kursk offensive has come with a price elsewhere on the battlefield, as Russia advanced in eastern Ukraine at its fastest pace for two years in August and September.

Russia on Sunday said it has captured another east Ukrainian village as it closes on the important city of Pokrovsk, where its forces have been advancing for weeks.

Russian troops have moved westwards in the Donetsk region for months, with Kyiv saying this weekend that the situation was “very difficult.” Moscow’s defence ministry said its forces have now taken Mykhailivka, at the gates of the town of Selydove, and south of Pokrovsk. Selydove has been badly damaged by months of shelling and seen most of its population flee.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024