Russia reports conquest of an eastern Ukrainian district in Kursk

Russia reports conquest of an eastern Ukrainian district in Kursk

Russia has claimed that its forces have conquered a strongly damaged but strategically important city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, a day after Kiev had started a counterattack in the Russian region Kursk.

Russia's assertion about the conquest of Kurakhove

After months of intensive fights, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Monday that his troops had completely "freed" Kurakhove, a small industrial city that serves as a springboard to the key town of Pokrovsk and to another front line in the south. Ukraine has not yet commented on this claim.

Ukrainian offensive in Kursk

Nevertheless, Kiev strengthened his offensive in Kursk, where his troops have held the area since a surprising advance last summer. Ukrainian armed forces attacked Russian troops in several places in Kursk at the weekend. A high -ranking official said that Russia was "deserved".

intensification of the fights

Despite the exhaustion of both sides after almost three years of war, the fights on the front have increased in the past few weeks. Given the return of Donald Trump to the White House this month - who promised to end the war in a day without explaining how - Moscow and Kiev seem to take a last attempt to conquer areas and strengthen their negotiation positions before possible peace discussions.

meaning of Kurakhove

Kurakhove has been strongly under fire in the past few weeks, while Russian troops concentrate on Pokrovsk, a key hub for logistics, the loss of which would significantly impair Ukraine's ability to keep areas in Donetsk. Kurakhove is about 40 kilometers south of Pokrovsk and is the youngest among a number of cities that have claimed Russia.

Ukrainian resistance to Russian superiority

The Ukraine operational and strategic group "Khortytsia" said that its troops would trace Russia's attempts to "play their numerical superiority and initiate an offensive." According to the report, Russian troops are fighting in parts of the city.

CNN could not verify the claims independently. Ukrainian military bloggers shared different reports on Russia's progress and the success of the Ukrainian defense strategy.

opinions of Ukrainian military bloggers

A blogger, Yuriy Butusov, reported that Kurakhove was "practically lost", despite "heroic" efforts by the Ukrainian troops. He emphasized that the troops continue to defend important industrial areas, including the city's heating power plant.

Russian state media reported that Ukrainian troops had been pushed back “from parts of the site” of the power plant, and citing sources in Russian security structures that the fighting would continue to be ongoing. "There is still a lot of work in the industrial area ahead of us," the sources were quoted.

Question about the military decisions of Ukraine

Butusov questioned the far-notisy of the Ukrainian military to want to defend Kurakhove and warned that this has the risk of repeating the same pattern as in Soledar, Bachmuth, Avdiivka and Wumedar-cities in Eastern Ukraine, which ultimately fell after weeks or months of resistance against the Russian "Fleischmühle" attacks. Russia suffered high losses, while Ukraine also had to accept high losses.

Another blogger, Bohdan Miroshnikov, praised the Ukrainian troops for their "miracles" in Kurakhove: "It costs us a lot, but it prevents the enemy from being able to do more mischief," said the blogger.

counter -offensive in Kursk

explanations of the Ukrainian president

In his daily speech on Monday, President Wolodymyr Selenskyj said that the Ukrainian troops would maintain a "buffer zone" on the Russian territory. "Since the beginning of the Cursk operation, the enemy has already lost over 38,000 soldiers in this area alone, including about 15,000 irreparable losses," he said. He emphasized that the courtyard offensive was important to prevent Russia from being redirected to Donetsk and other regions of East and South Ukraine.