Ukraine attacks Russia’s Kursk from multiple directions in surprise assault

Ukraine has launched a multi-pronged attack in the Russian border region of Kursk as it looks to ensure a strong negotiation position ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, off the back of a promise to end the war.

Ukrainian forces continued a counterattack in the Russian border region of Kursk on Monday, attacking on both the eastern and western flanks.

Senior Ukrainian officials described the assaults, which began over the weekend, as “good news” as war trackers suggested the fighting was taking place in at least three sectors. The main thrust of the fighting appears to be concentrated towards the north east of Sudzha, the only city in Kursk controlled by the Ukrainians.

Unverified footage being circulated among Russian military bloggers showed what appeared to be a column of Ukrainian military vehicles on the outskirts of the village of Berdin, several miles beyond Kyiv’s control prior to the counterattack.

Fighting was also taking place southeast of Sudzha and near Korenevo on the other side of the area in Kursk held by Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s top advisor, Andriy Yermak, said these latest attacks showed that Moscow was getting what it “deserved”.

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.

But the attack continued as the Russian defence ministry celebrated their alleged takeover of  eastern Ukrainian town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, as well as more advances towards the key logistical city of Pokrovsk further north.

The ministry said taking Kurakhove, which had held out for many weeks, would enable Moscow’s forces to step up the pace of their advance in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It also said it had captured Dachenske, a settlement within five miles of Pokrovsk.

Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, claimed Kyiv’s forces were still fighting in Kurakhove, but Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState, which tracks the front line using open sources, showed most of the town under Russian control.

“The tradeoff for committing more troops in Kursk can cost Ukrainian land,” writes Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst who tracks the frontline in Ukraine for The Black Bird Group.

“The offensive in Kursk is currently continuing even in a situation where positions in Donetsk are being constantly lost.”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, however, acknowledged that Ukraine’s hold on Kursk could prove vital in negotiations with Vladimir Putin, overseen by Mr Trump.

Speaking in the South Korean capital of Seoul, the outgoing top diplomat of Joe Biden’s administration said: “The positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region are very important, because, of course, this is what will matter for any negotiations that may take place in the coming year.”

It comes as French president Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for “realistic discussions on territorial questions” regarding the end of the war in Ukraine.

In his New Year’s address, he called on Mr Trump, who has vowed to stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning not office, not to force an end to the war on terms favourable to Russia.

“There is no quick and easy solution in Ukraine,” he said, adding: “The new American president himself knows the United States has no chance of winning anything if Ukraine loses.”

“The credibility of the West will be shattered if we compromise because of fatigue.”