Russia planned to encircle Ukrainian troops in Kursk region, but suffered losses - Expert
Image: Russia planned to encircle Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region (GettyImages)
The Russian army had the task of freeing the Kursk region from Ukrainian troops by January 20. That is why active combat operations have been observed there in recent months, states Oleksandr Musiienko, the head of the Center for Military and Legal Research, in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
"It was very intense there. The enemy had some minor tactical successes and gains; they managed to capture certain positions. However, overall, Ukrainian forces inflicted heavy losses on them, and the Russian troops had to regroup and replenish their losses, which they were doing in February. This also applies to the units from North Korea," Musiienko noted.
He added that at that time, the Russian army was forced to retreat in order to begin a more intensive offensive. However, this does not mean that the last month in
the Kursk region was "quiet." The Russian forces carried out strikes from the air using drones and artillery. Infantry assaults intensified at the end of February.
"Assessing what the enemy might have planned, the goal was to conduct a blitzkrieg, the objective of which was to do what we have already seen on other sections of the front. That is, to carry out an encirclement operation aimed at surrounding our contingent in Kursk. And, as they thought, the 'cherry on top' of this 'grand' plan was a raid through the gas pipeline. These plans were thwarted," the expert noted.
In his opinion, the Russian forces intensified their actions in the direction of the Sumy region to stretch Ukrainian forces and thus weaken them. However, these actions were stopped. In other words, everything is being done to disrupt this Russian blitzkrieg.
Musiienko believes that against the backdrop of the negotiation process, Russia will try to do everything it can to, as they think, deprive Ukraine of arguments at the negotiation table.
Currently, the Russian army is redeploying all its reserves to the Kursk direction, which in turn helps stabilize the situation on the fronts in Ukraine.
"In the Pokrovsk direction, over the past weeks, we managed to halt the enemy's advance. Moreover, we even recaptured some positions and improved our tactical situation," Musiienko said.
He reminded that such Russian activity in the Kursk region may be related to statements by the Russian authorities that they would not exchange it for occupied Ukrainian territories.
"Therefore, Kursk, even according to the General Staff’s reports, is currently officially the hottest direction of enemy attention and strike. And it will remain so in the coming days. Does this mean that Ukraine can set the goal of holding Kursk at any cost, even at the risk of losing combat effectiveness in some units? I don’t think so," he emphasized.
Situation in the Kursk region
Recently, there have been media reports about the threat of encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region. Specifically, this could have been influenced by the cessation of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
The Center for Countering Disinformation clarified that intense battles with Russian assault groups are taking place in the border area of the Sumy region. The Russian troops are attempting to break through to the city of Sudzha, located in the Kursk region.
For a detailed account of what is happening in the Kursk region, read the material by RBC-Ukraine.
