Ukrainian troops are holding the front line in Russia’s Kursk Oblast despite Russian attempts to break through, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 12.
“There were attempts by Russia to push back our positions. But we are holding the defined lines,” he said.
Zelensky posted the comments on his official Telegram channel after Russian military sources claimed the prior day to have recaptured nearly two dozen settlements in Kursk Oblast.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), “ISW assesses that Russian forces have likely advanced within at least 13 settlements in Kursk Oblast that Ukrainian forces had previously reportedly operated in as of Oct. 11.”
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, also commented on the issue on his Telegram channel on Oct. 12.
“Active fighting continues in Kursk Oblast,” he said. “After (Ukrainian troops) partially regained the positions where the Russians had entered, (Russian troops) began to send columns to attack again.”
Ukraine launched a cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in early August, allegedly seizing around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles). Russia began a counteroffensive in the region in September, with reportedly minimal success.
Earlier in the week, U.S. officials assessed that Ukraine has the ability to hold territory in Kursk Oblast for months.
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