There are many indicators showing that Russia is now belatedly pushing back Ukraine forces in Kursk at full force. Ukraine's President Zelensky acknowledged this reality in Thursday comments, saying at a briefing that the Russian "counteroffensive actions were according to our Ukrainian plan."
And Russia's Defense Ministry (MoD) said the same day that its offensive to regain sovereign Russian territory is in full swing, having already captured almost a dozen towns in the southern border region.
"Units of the 'North' grouping of forces liberated 10 settlements within two days," the statement indicated. "Likewise, over the past day, units of the group repelled two enemy counterattacks near the towns of Fanaseyevka and Snagost, as well as thwarted an attempted attack near the town of Olgovka," the MoD added.
Pro-Russian war bloggers have also described that Russian forces are engaged in a "local counteroffensive" in the Korenevsky district, near Ukraine's Sumy region.
Since the Aug.6 cross-border incursion, Kiev leadership has boasted of capturing some 500 square miles of Russian territory, encompassing some 100 towns and villages - but this significant extent has never been confirmed. But what became clear was the huge size of Russian evacuation efforts. Within a couple weeks after the invasion, there were reports that 100,000 Russians fled border regions, and now that figure is estimated at 150,000 who were evacuated.
The MoD described that in the last couple days of the counteroffensive, "The AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] losses amounted to more than 300 troops and 24 units of hardware, including five tanks, six armored personnel carriers, 13 armored fighting vehicles, as well as two artillery guns, nine motor vehicles, two counter-obstacle vehicles, and two electronic warfare stations."
In total, Moscow claims that Kiev forces have lost over 12,500 in the Kursk operation. Along with this, it lost "101 tanks, 42 infantry fighting vehicles, 83 armored personnel carriers, 669 armored fighting vehicles, 401 motor vehicles, 92 artillery guns, 26 launchers, including seven American-made HIMARS and five MLRS systems, eight air defense systems, two transport-loading vehicles, 22 electronic warfare stations, seven counter-battery radars, two aerial radars, ten engineering vehicles, including four counter obstacle vehicles and one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle"—according to recently published figures in state sources.
Recent ISW war map:
Russian sources have claimed that Ukrainian troops are currently surrendering in droves. For example, RT says of one video showing a large group of men walking down a street with their hands up, "Another one [unverified clip] purports to show a group of Ukrainian POWs walking down a road. Some of them are holding their hands behind their heads while others prop up an injured comrade." The conflict continues to be a horrific war of attrition.
But Western officials have continued cheering on the Ukraine operation, with British Defense Secretary John Healey saying in fresh remarks before the House of Commons that "the longer they hold Kursk, the weaker Putin becomes. The longer they hold Kursk, the better defended Ukraine will be." But the tide of battle in Ukraine's east tells a different story.