kyiv says it is making progress in Russia, Moscow is maintaining its pressure in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine claimed on Thursday new advances in its offensive in Russia's Kursk region, where Russia assures for its part to have retaken a village while maintaining its pressure further south on the Donbass front.

Ukrainian forces attacked the Kursk border region on August 6, seizing dozens of towns and hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory in an offensive that surprised the Russian army as it slowly advanced into Donbass.

Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrsky claimed on Thursday an advance of 35 kilometers in depth for total control of 1,150 km2 and 82 towns, eight more than on Tuesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian troops had completely “liberated” Sudja, a Russian town of 5,500 people located about ten kilometers from the border.

In a sign of the Ukrainians' intention to establish themselves in the long term, General Syrsky announced the creation of a military administration in the region, responsible for current affairs, logistics and ensuring security.

A Ukrainian army armored vehicle near a burning vehicle, near the border with Russia, in the Sumy region on August 14, 2024 © AFP – Roman PILIPEY

Caught off guard by highly mobile Ukrainian motorized formations that easily crossed the border, the Russian army has since assured that it has sent reinforcements and claimed on Thursday to have retaken a village, that of Kroupets.

The Russian Minister of Defense, Andrei Beloussov, announced on Thursday the allocation of “additional resources” in the region of Belgorod, neighboring that of Kursk. The situation there is “extremely tense”, according to its governor, Viatcheslav Gladkov.

– “Difficult” situation in the east –

The operation in the Kursk region is Ukraine's first major advance since its victorious counter-offensives in late 2022. Volodymyr Zelensky said that hundreds of Russian soldiers had been taken prisoner since August 6.

It has given a second wind to the Ukrainian army, which, since the failure of another counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, has been retreating in the Donetsk region (Donbass, east) in the face of more numerous and better-armed Russian units.

British media reported on Thursday that the Ukrainians were using Challenger 2 heavy tanks delivered by the United Kingdom during its offensive in Russia.

Without confirming this information, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, argued on Thursday that the recent “changes on the front line” showed that kyiv was “effectively” making use of “the military and financial aid” received from abroad.

Ukrainian authorities have given various reasons for the assault on Russia: to force Moscow to withdraw troops from other parts of the front, to create a “buffer zone” in Russian territory against bombing, or to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.

However, the pressure does not seem to be easing in eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is still taking place. Russia claimed on Thursday the capture of the village of Ivanivka, about fifteen kilometers from Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub.

According to the commander of the Ukrainian army, the situation on the eastern and southern fronts remains “difficult but under control.”

On Telegram, the Pokrovsk administration nevertheless called on the population to evacuate on Thursday, stressing that the enemy was advancing “at a rapid pace.”

Russian strikes also continue. Ukrainian local authorities reported the deaths of three civilians in the Donetsk region, two in the Kharkiv region (northeast) and two in the Kherson region (south) during the day.

In the Ukrainian region of Sumy, located opposite the Kursk region and where more than 20,000 people have already been evacuated, the local administration reported 56 Russian strikes during the day on Thursday evening.

According to it, one civilian was killed and three others injured by bombs dropped in the area of ​​the town of Krasnopillia, located about ten kilometers from the Russian border.

– Humanitarian corridors –

In Kursk, the capital of In the region of the same name, AFP journalists saw around 500 displaced people on Thursday, during a distribution of food and clothing by the Red Cross.

“I was very, very scared. Shells were flying from all sides, helicopters and fighter jets were flying over the house,” Nina Goliniaeva, an evacuee from Sudja, told AFP.

“In the evening I saw soldiers in the street,” added the woman, who said she left while “it was thundering all around.”

People displaced by fighting receives aid from the Russian Red Cross in Kursk (Russia) on August 15, 2024 © AFP – TATYANA MAKEYEVA

More than 120,000 people have fled the fighting and shelling and nearly 2,000 others could be in the areas occupied by the Ukrainian army, according to official Russian data.

At least 12 civilians have been killed and more than 120 injured, including children, since the start of the Ukrainian operation, according to a report from the Russian authorities provided at the beginning of the week.

Finally, Ukraine announced on Wednesday that its army planned to open humanitarian corridors in the Kursk region to facilitate the evacuation of civilians both towards Russia than Ukraine.

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