Russia sends 50,000 troops to Kursk Oblast from other fronts in Ukraine

Russia redeployed approximately 50,000 troops to Kursk Oblast from other fronts, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Ukrainian television on 10 October.

Ukrainian forces started its offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast on 6 August 2024. Since then, fighting has continued in the oblast, with the Ukrainian military claiming control over dozens of settlements, including the district center of Sudzha. Russian authorities have either denied or not commented on these claims.

Syrskyi said the redeployment of the Russian troops to the Kursk Oblast has weakened Russian forces in other areas, notably the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kramatorsk directions.

“This, of course, made conditions easier for us (Ukraine) to conduct defensive operations,” Syrskyi said.

Syrskyi also said that Russia had planned a new offensive against Ukraine from Kursk Oblast before Ukrainian forces began their operation in the oblast, which he says prevented this Russian plan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the Kursk operation as “an important stage of the war” on 6 October.

He argued that with sufficient partner support, Ukraine could pressure Russia “in the way needed for Russia to feel that the war will give them nothing.” Zelenskyy also said that the Kursk operation has significantly contributed to the exchange fund for freeing Ukrainian prisoners.

By opening a new front on Russian territory, Ukraine also aims to divert Russian resources and attention away from its eastern regions, potentially easing pressure on Ukrainian defenders.

Despite Ukrainian gains in Kursk Oblast, Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military recently withdrew from Vuhledar in southern Donetsk Oblast after the town resisted Russian attacks for two years.

Vuhledar, a town with a pre-war population of 14,000 in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, is a strategically important city on high ground that the Russians want to use for further advances and offensives.

Intense fighting is ongoing in Chasiv Yar and Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, with Russian troops approaching the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

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