War in Ukraine: Ukrainian advance in Russia, a new shift ?

The Ukrainian army continues its advance in the Russian border region of Kursk on the eighth day of an unprecedented offensive that Moscow has promised to stop.

Ukrainian forces launched an attack an offensive in the Russian oblast of Kursk. For the first time since the Second World War, a regular army entered part of Russian territory. ;rim of this region, Alexeï Smirnov, reported on the situation à Vladimir Putin, Monday August 12. In total, 28 localities would be under Ukrainian control, in an operational zone 12 km deep and 40 km deep. km wide, or 480 km². The Ukrainian government claims, for its part, 1 000 km² under  control of his army. 

“Ukraine does not want to annex any territory in the Kursk region,” the spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry assured on Tuesday, August 13. This unprecedented offensive, he assured, will stop if Russia accepts the conditions set by Ukraine: “The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace […], the sooner the incursions of the Ukrainian defense forces into Russian territory will stop.” For its part, the Russian army has assured that it will “thwart” new Ukrainian attacks.

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Ukrainian forces advance

Ukraine has been trying to reverse the balance of power since the end of its counteroffensive in November 2023 and take advantage of the laxity of Russian forces on the border. The Ukrainian authorities have decided to bet on creating a counterfire to force its adversary to disperse its resources, diverting part of the pressure from eastern Ukraine to the Kursk region in Russia. A tactical distraction as one of the main objectives of this incursion.

After a week, Ukrainian forces have seized several localities, the most important of which is the city of Sudja, 5,000 inhabitants, and continue to advance in several directions. This operation would make it difficult Russian power. The Ukrainian offensive reverses the image of a stalemate in the conflict that had been going on for several months, and boosts low morale within the army in particular. 

More than 120,000 people have been evacuated from the Russian region, often by their own means. The Ukrainian troops engaged in the offensive amount to several thousand men. The region's governor, Aleksei Smirnov, said that 12 civilians had been killed and 121 wounded since the Ukrainian incursion began on August 6. For his part, Vladimir Putin called the offensive a “major provocation” and expressed his willingness to to “expel” the Ukrainian army from Russian territory.” Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, assured that a firm response from Russia “will not be long in coming”.