Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that its forces repelled a Ukrainian assault on two villages in the partially occupied Kursk region in southwestern Russia.
The battlefield report follows claims by pro-war military bloggers that Ukrainian troops launched an early morning offensive on the villages of Ulanok and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, located near the Ukrainian-controlled city of Sudzha.
Russian forces fought off “several waves” of Ukrainian attacks and remained in control of both villages as of 2 p.m. local time, the ministry said in a statement.
It said that Ukraine had deployed two mechanized battalions and further claimed that Russian forces destroyed dozens of Ukrainian armored vehicles, tanks and military engineering vehicles.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify Russia’s battlefield report.
Following Kyiv’s surprise incursion in early August, Ukrainian forces seized 1,268 square kilometers (490 square miles) of land in the Kursk region, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. The ministry said last month that Russian forces managed to reclaim more than 60% of the lost territory.
The DeepState military blog, which has ties to the Ukrainian army, estimates that Kyiv still controls 428 square kilometers (165 square miles) of land in the Kursk region. It lists the towns of Ulanok as under Russian control and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye as a contested “grey zone.”
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