What We Know About Russian Operation Against Ukrainian Formations in Kursk Region

The operation to destroy enemy formations is ongoing, and Ukrainian attempts to advance into Russia have been thwarted

© Alyona Puchnina/TASS

MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Russian forces have thwarted Ukraine’s attempt to infiltrate the Kursk Region, and the operation to eliminate Ukrainian formations near the state border continues, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Acting governor Alexey Smirnov said he had briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation in his region. The Russian leader pledged "across the board" support as he gave his assurances that he would take care of the situation personally.

TASS has gathered the key facts about the developments in the borderline Russian region.

Fighting near the border

- Overnight, troops from the Russian Army jointly with border protection units from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) continued to destroy Ukrainian armed formations in areas of the Kursk Region directly adjacent to the border in the wake of a massive Ukrainian attack on August 6, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

- The operation to destroy enemy formations is ongoing, and Ukrainian attempts to advance into Russia have been thwarted.

- Ukrainian reserves near the localities of Basovka, Zhuravka, Yunakovka, Belovody, Kiyanitsa, Korchakovka, Novaya Sech, Pavlovka and Gorodishche in the Sumy Region were hit.

- Russian air defense forces took down over 20 unmanned aerial vehicles and several projectiles in the skies over the region.

- Five people were killed in the attacks in the Kursk Region and 24 others have been injured.

Enemy losses

- Ukrainian forces sustained roughly 260 casualties near the border in the Kursk Region and they also lost 50 pieces of armored vehicles, including seven tanks, eight APCs, three IFVs and 31 armored combat vehicles.

- Also, two Ukrainian self-propelled mounts of the Buk-M1 missile system, an UR-77 demining system and a jamming station were destroyed.

Assistance to locals

- More than 200 civilians have been evacuated from areas being shelled in the Kursk Region, and 1,000 others have left on their own by car, Smirnov said.

- Over 2,500 temporary accommodations were set up in the Kursk Region last night to support 302 people, including more than 120 children.

- The acting governor said he had briefed President Putin about the situation over the phone last night. The Russian leader said he was monitoring the situation.

- The neighboring Oryol Region has accommodated the first group of evacuees from the Kursk Region. Regions in the Urals Federal District as well as central Russia’s Voronezh and Moscow regions have expressed their readiness to provide assistance to the affected region.

- Medics from Moscow and St. Petersburg have been dispatched to the Kursk Region.

- The People’s Front is raising funds to support Russian servicemen who are fighting the Ukrainians off there.

- The ruling United Russia party is going to run humanitarian deliveries to Kursk Region residents staying in temporary accommodations amid the Ukrainian shelling.

Official reaction to Ukrainian infiltration attempt

- Ukrainian forces are doomed, and they don’t have the means to seize the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, said Major General Apty Alaudinov, a deputy chief of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces.

- Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky sent Ukrainian citizens "to the slaughter" in the Kursk Region with a view to prolonging mobilization for another three months "on the down low," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova opined.