After pushing Ukraine on backfoot in Donbas, Russia launches counter-offensive in Kursk

After pushing Ukraine on the backfoot in the Donbas region in the country’s east, Russia has now mounted a counter-offensive in the Kursk province.

Last month, Ukraine mounted a lightening incursion into Russia's border province of Kursk and captured more than 1,000 square kilometres of land and dozens of settlements . Even though the offensive was initially hailed as a turning point in the war, the stated objective to ease the situation in other theatres of war by forcing Russian troops’ diversion from there towards Kursk did not materialise as Russia continued to press in Donbas region.

In Donbas region's Donetsk province, Russia has moved dangerously close to the strategic city of Pokrovsk .

Now, Russia has launched a counter-offensive in Kursk as well where it has claimed to have scored a string of victories.

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Russia claims recapturing 10 villages in Kursk

Russia’s Major General Apti Alaudinov has claimed that the military has recaptured at least 10 villages in Kursk.

“The situation is good for us. A total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region have been liberated,” said Alaudinov, the commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces in Kursk, as per TASS news agency.

Separately, The Guardian reported that both pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine military bloggers have reported heavy fighting in Kursk’s areas occupied by Ukraine.

Russian forces are said to have pushed Ukraine to the east of the Malaya Loknya river south of Snagost, according to the newspaper.

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Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday that the “Russians have launched counter-offensive actions”, as per AFP.

While Zelenskyy did not provide details, he said the Kursk incursion was “going in line with our Ukrainian plan”.

Has Ukraine’s Kursk gamble backfired?

From the onset, the Kursk incursion had two broad motivations.

One, the incursion intended to open another front inside Russia and ease the pressure in other theatres of war by forcing Russia to troops from those theatres to defend the new front inside own country.

Two, Kursk’s captured territory could be used a bargaining chip for a land-swap whenever the two sides negotiate in the future.

As Russia continues to press towards Pokrovsk, the first motivation stands defeated. Instead of Russia, it is Ukraine which ended up diverting 10-15,000 of best soldiers for the Kursk incursion, which meant that the rest of the theatres were deprived of the best soldiers.

Now, as Russia has started recapturing villages in Kursk, the second motivation is also losing its value.