Ukraine Claims Control Over 100 Settlements in Kursk Region
Ukraine’s military commander has declared that Ukrainian forces have taken control of nearly 1,300 square kilometers of Russia’s Kursk region, encompassing 100 settlements.
On August 27, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, announced that the Ukrainian military continues to make progress in their offensive against Russia’s Kursk region. Over the past three weeks, Ukraine has gained control of 1,294 square kilometers of territory in Kursk, capturing 100 settlements and taking 594 Russian prisoners.
However, General Syrskyi warned that Russia is reinforcing its troops on the Pokrovsk front in the Donetsk region, describing the situation there as “very difficult.” Russian forces are reportedly attempting to disrupt Ukraine’s supply lines to the key city of Pokrovsk and surrounding areas.
In a press briefing the same day, President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Russian forces are advancing more rapidly on the Pokrovsk front than they were before Ukraine launched its offensive in the Kursk region.
Russia has yet to comment on Ukraine’s claims. On August 27, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its forces continue to repel Ukrainian attempts to advance in Kursk, neutralizing Ukrainian units in the process.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that units from the Server military wing, supported by airborne forces and artillery, successfully repelled several enemy attacks. Russian air forces also targeted areas in Ukraine’s Sumy region, across the border, where Ukrainian reserve forces and military equipment were concentrated.
“The Russian military continues to sweep through forested areas to detect and eliminate small enemy reconnaissance groups attempting to penetrate deep into Russian territory,” the ministry’s statement said.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine has lost 400 soldiers, 30 armored vehicles, one HIMARS rocket launcher, and numerous other weapons and military vehicles over the past 24 hours.
Since the start of the Kursk offensive, Ukraine has reportedly lost over 6,600 soldiers, 73 tanks, more than 500 armored vehicles, four HIMARS rocket launchers, one M240 MRLS launcher, and a significant amount of other weapons and military equipment, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Ukraine has not commented on these claims nor disclosed any information on enemy losses.
On August 27, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov accused the United States of participating in Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region, calling it “an obvious fact.”
“The path of escalation taken by the United States is becoming increasingly challenging,” he said. “This could lead to reactions with serious consequences from Russia, and the U.S. is fully aware of this.”
The United States has not responded to Ryabkov’s remarks. After Ukraine’s attack on the Kursk region on August 6, the U.S. stated that it was not informed in advance of the offensive and denied any involvement.
Russia claims that Ukraine used Western-supplied weapons, including British tanks and American rockets, in its Kursk operation. Ukraine has confirmed the use of HIMARS artillery to destroy bridges in the region.
U.S. media reports indicate that the United States and the United Kingdom provided satellite imagery and other intelligence about Kursk to Ukraine in the days following the start of the offensive. This information reportedly helped Ukraine better monitor Russian reinforcements that could attack or block their retreat back to Ukraine. The U.S. government has not commented on these reports.
