Ukraine says Russia has started a counteroffensive in its Kursk border region
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia has launched “counteroffensive actions” in its Kursk region to dislodge Ukrainian forces who stormed across the border five weeks ago and put Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since World War II
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has launched a counteroffensive in its Kursk region to dislodge Ukraine's forces who stormed across the border five weeks ago and put Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since World War II, Ukraine's president said Thursday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Moscow’s forces had recaptured 10 settlements in Kursk and listed their names but didn't describe the fighting as a counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was taking “counteroffensive actions” but that Ukrainian forces had anticipated the moves and were ready to fight.
Ukraine launched its daring incursion into Kursk on Aug. 6, partly in the hope that Russia would divert its troops there from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine where a push by the Russian army is threatening to overrun a belt of key defensive strongholds.
The cross-border operation also raised Ukrainian morale after months of gloomy news from the front by exposing Russian vulnerabilities and seizing some initiative on the battlefield. It also sought to establish a buffer zone to prevent Russian attacks.
