Russia Is Losing Control Over Own Territory

Ukraine controls part of a Russian border town and may have captured nearly a dozen settlements in Russia's Kursk region after launching a cross-border raid earlier this week, according to Russian sources.

Kyiv's forces control part of the Russian border town of Sudzha, several of Russia's community of influential military bloggers indicated by Thursday morning.

One account described Sudzha as "under the heaviest fire" on Wednesday afternoon, with footage widely circulating on social media appearing to show damage to the town, including to a checkpoint.

Russia's Defense Ministry said hundreds of Ukrainian fighters with Ukraine's 22nd Mechanized Brigade, nearly a dozen tanks and more than 20 armored vehicles had crossed into Kursk, which is just over the border from Ukraine's Sumy region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the cross-border assaults a "large-scale provocation" during a meeting with senior Russian officials on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials have been tight-lipped about the operation. DeepState, a popular Ukrainian war blog that tracks changes to the front line, said it was not updating its map to account for the Kursk incursion for now.

But Andrii Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said the Kremlin was "lying about the controllability of the situation in the Kursk region."

"Russia does not control the border," Kovalenko said on Tuesday, after teasing that "there will be a lot of news from the Kursk region."

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, appeared to suggest that activity in Kursk could be a test of the Russian population's support from the war.

The Kremlin said it repelled the attacks on Wednesday, and the chief of Russia's Armed Forces General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said Russian forces "have stopped the enemy's advance deep into Russian territory" in Kursk.

But this has been largely contradicted by Russia's prominent military bloggers. Much of the information about the raid, in lieu of reliable and detailed accounts from Russian and Ukrainian authorities, has come from open sources and from Russia's community of military bloggers. Although often aligned with the Kremlin, these accounts are often used as valuable sources.

"The enemy's onslaught in the Kursk region has not yet been contained," according to the popular Rybar account.

Several bloggers reported that Ukrainian forces had reached up to 15 kilometers, or just over 9 miles, into Kursk by Wednesday.

Ukraine had advanced a confirmed 10 kilometers, or just over 6 miles, into Kursk by Wednesday, according to the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Ukrainian forces appear to have made it past at least two Russian defensive lines and a stronghold, the think tank assessed, noting that Russian sources deemed at least 11 Kursk settlements captured by Ukraine.

A prominent Russian blogger said on Wednesday that Ukraine had "managed to take control of several more settlements" after it had become "clear that it was impossible to dislodge the foe forces from the territory they had occupied."

"The third day, and the situation has not improved," Russian journalist Alexander Sladkov said on Thursday. "The enemy is gaining a foothold in the populated areas of the Sudzhinsky district, Sladkov added, describing the wider area around Sudzha.

One account, which purports to have links to Russia's security services, said Ukrainian infantry soldiers had "marched" through the streets of Obukhovka and Liubimovka, two villages northwest of Sudzha.

Reports also said Ukraine had seized a gas measuring station near Sudzha used to supply Europe via Ukraine.

By Wednesday evening local time, Ukraine was fighting Russian forces near the town of Korenovo, northwest of Liubimovka and Obukhovka, according to another account. Another military blogger reported "high intensity" fighting around Sudzha and Korenovo on Thursday.

Ukrainian forces reportedly approached the village of Malaya Loknya, northwest of Sudzha.

"The foe is gaining a foothold, pulling reserves, increasing the presence of equipment in the region, despite the constant strikes of our aviation and drones," one account said on Thursday.

Kursk's acting regional governor, Alexei Smirnov, had described the situation in Kursk as under control. Smirnov then declared a state of emergency in the region on Wednesday, describing the situation along the border areas as "complicated."

Several accounts speculated that Ukraine hoped to reach the Kursk nuclear power plant in Kurchatov, west of the city of Kursk. Other reports suggested Ukraine intended to take control of Rylsk, west of Kurchatov and closer to the border.

"The enemy knew where to strike," another blogger said. "They chose the weakest and most convenient section of all for an attack."

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.