In 8 days in Kursk incursion, Ukraine captured more territory than Russia did in 8 months: Report

In eight days of the ongoing invasion of Kursk, Ukraine has captured as much territory as Russia did in eastern Ukraine in eight months this year.

After months of setbacks, Ukraine launched an offensive in Russia’s border province of Kursk on August 6. The offensive took the Russian forces by surprise and Ukrainian forces have since continued to make gains. The incursion has now expanded to Russia’s second province, the neighbouring Belgorod, which also decaled a state of emergency.

In Kursk, Ukraine has claimed to have captured at least one city and dozens of villages.

In recent months, Russia had made a string of victories in eastern Ukraine where it won dozens of villages. In May, it launched a surprise offensive in the Kharkiv region that led to the hundreds of kilometres coming under its control and evacuation of thousands of locals. Now, however, Ukraine has given Russia a taste of its own medicine.

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Ukraine captures around 1,000 kms

In the eight days of incursion in Russia, Ukraine has won more territory than Russia won in the eight months of war in Ukraine this year, according to a report.

While Ukraine has captured around 1,000 square kilometres of territory, Russia has won around 994 sq km in Ukraine this year, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Ukraine has claimed to have won the city of Sudzha and at least 74 settlements in Kursk .

Of the gains Russia made in Ukraine this year, Russia captured around 250 sq km in May when it launched the Kharkiv offensive, as per The Telegraph.

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The idea behind the Ukrainian incursion is to create a buffer zone so that Russia does not use the area to strike Ukrainian border areas. Previously, a commander deployed in Kursk told the i newspaper that the purpose of the incursion was to ease the pressure on Ukrainian forces fighting in other theatres of war .

“We have no wish to be on Russian territory but there is no other way to take the pressure off of the front line in Donbas, in Zaporizhzhia. We know we can’t go toe-to-toe with them in the east using the tactics they use because they don’t care about their guys and for us our soldiers are our best resource. So for us this is the best way to draw their forces from the east and reinforce our border,” said the commander.