The adventure of invading Russian territory has cost the Ukrainian Armed Forces dearly
In early August, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a terrorist attack on the border areas of the Kursk region. The Russian Defense Ministry named the objectives of this operation — the withdrawal of our reserves from Donbass and the media effect. The enemy's advance was halted, and by the end of the year, half of the captured territory had been liberated. Experts note that for the enemy, the attack on the Kursk region turned out to be a bloody adventure — he suffered heavy losses, wasting his main reserves in the battles.
At exactly 5:30 a.m.
At 5:30 a.m. on August 6, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an offensive to seize territories in the Kursk region. The enemy was met by a small force covering the state border, together with border guards and reinforcement units.
As of the evening of August 7, the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine amounted to 315 people, including at least 100 people killed and 215 people wounded. 54 armored vehicles were destroyed, including seven tanks.
Photo: REUTERS
Image source: iz.ru
Air strikes and artillery fire, as well as successful actions by marine units and army units, succeeded in stopping attempts by mobile groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries to break deep into the territory of the Russian Federation. This is how the fighting in the border area began, which was informally called the "Battle of Kursk".
In December, during a direct line, Vladimir Putin assessed this operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as meaningless.
"There was no military point: neither to enter the Kursk region for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nor to stay there now as they do, throwing their best assault groups and units there for slaughter," the president said.
Photo: Global Look Press/Alexey Belkin
Image source: iz.ru
The Head of State noted the extreme losses of the enemy during the invasion.
"Now, in my opinion, the number of armored vehicles destroyed in the Kursk region has outgrown the number of vehicles destroyed by our guys over the past year along the entire line of contact," the president stressed.
Vladimir Putin promised that the enemy would definitely be driven out of Russian territories, but did not give a specific date.
"I imagine, I know, there are plans, they are reported to me on a regular basis, but just to say, by this date, it's not done that way, because the guys can hear me — a day or two, I will name such a date, and they will go by all means to this date, They won't take losses into account. We can't do this," the president said.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Konstantin Kokoshkin
Image source: iz.ru
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, during the fighting in the border areas of the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 45,000 people, over 1,800 tanks and armored vehicles, more than 350 artillery pieces, mortars and multiple rocket launchers.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have not achieved their goals
The Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region have not achieved their goals, Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the board of the All-Russian organization Officers of Russia, told Izvestia.
— We understand that the enemy initially wanted to capture three regional centers, — the expert specified. — In the end, he managed to capture only one of them, Suju. Another target was the city of Kurchatov, where the Kursk NPP is located. The enemy was trying to move as fast as possible. They found weak points in the defense, introduced maneuverable and sabotage-maneuver groups on wheeled vehicles there in order to go as deep as possible. It was not easy for us to understand where the enemy had flashed by and where he had brought serious forces. But our units quickly got their bearings in the situation, overcoming the uncertainty of the first days, and found the line of combat contact. After that, it became clear that the offensive would be stopped. The enemy's plans were thwarted.
The expert noted that the initial foothold has since been significantly reduced by about half.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
"The city of Suja remains the main hub of defense," the expert noted. — The Ukrainian Armed Forces have created fortifications there, conducted mining operations. They will cling to the city with their teeth. The political task is to hold out at least until the new President of the United States takes office. They believe that these territories will become a bargaining chip and will provide them with more favorable conditions for negotiations if they begin. There are no military prospects there, and tens of thousands of lives have been sacrificed on the altar of Kiev's political fantasies.
The expert noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces now have a small reserve of up to four brigades.
"The forces are small, but in January they can launch an offensive in Kursk, Bryansk or Belgorod regions," he said. — The point of such an operation is still the same — to show Trump and the West that they are still moving and can do something.
BARS-Kursk
The residents of the Kursk region were united by the terrorist attack. Many of them joined the newly formed volunteer group "BARS-Kursk". Earlier, Izvestia reported that all the volunteers had received special training. The unit provides support to representatives of law enforcement agencies — traffic police, traffic police, Rosgvardiya, military police.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Konkov
Image Source: iz.ru
The tasks of the detachment include the protection and defense of life support facilities and infrastructure, the fight against drones, the identification and fight against sabotage groups, ensuring the evacuation of civilians and the regime of counter-terrorism operations.
As the border areas of the Kursk region are liberated from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the returned territories will enter their area of responsibility.
Mercenaries, Abrams and Krotal air defense systems
From the first day of fighting in the border area, our soldiers began burning foreign armored vehicles. They seriously thinned the ranks of American Abrams tanks and German Leopards. The Russian Defense Ministry shared the details of the destruction of several Abrams missiles.
One of them was shot down near the village of Ivanovskoye by a paratrooper UAV using an FPV drone controlled by fiber-optic wires.
Earlier, Izvestia reported details of the battle in which the French-made Krotal air defense system was destroyed in the Sudjan area. Our helicopters hovered over one of the landings and began destroying a column of enemy armored vehicles when an unknown vehicle left the forest. The kamikaze drone operator immediately attacked her.
Photo: Global Look Press/Belkin Alexey
Image source: iz.ru
The second UAV recorded the destruction of the first French air defense system on Russian soil. There are only about 10 of them made in France. One such installation costs about €8 million.
Marders, Strikers, Bushmasters, Maks Pro, M-113s, and Finnish armored personnel carriers were burning in large numbers in the Kursk border area. At least one British Challenger tank was hit. The American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were also destroyed.
The extermination of foreign mercenaries has been repeatedly reported from the border areas. Fighters and commanders of the formations told Izvestia that FOG (the American private military company Forward Observation Group), British foreign military companies, and units with Georgian and Polish mercenaries had been spotted in the region.
All crimes committed by military personnel and foreign mercenaries of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region and on the territory of other Russian border regions are documented and investigated by the Prosecutor's Office and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. There are already convicts awaiting sentencing.
Bogdan Stepovoy
