The presence of a small number of Ukrainian soldiers in the Russian Kursk region has complicated Russia's offensive in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) commented, BTA reported.
The Washington-based think tank analyzes the topic on the occasion of the half-year anniversary of the start of the surprise Ukrainian military operation in the border Russian region.
A small group of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region has complicated the efforts of the Russian army to advance into Ukraine over the past six months, American analysts write. Ukrainian forces, roughly the size of a division, have undermined the Russian army's ability to launch or resume offensive operations in lower-priority areas of the front line and to reinforce priority areas with elite units of the Airborne Forces or Marine Corps.
The invasion of the Kursk region partially confirms the concept that limited Ukrainian combat activity, exploiting the vulnerabilities of the Russian armed forces and combining technological adaptations and mechanized maneuvers, can have an impact on operations in the entire theater of operations, the Institute for the Study of War summarizes.
The think tank also writes that the Ukrainian army launched a new series of mechanized attacks with battalion-sized groups in the Kursk region yesterday and advanced to five kilometers behind Russian lines southeast of the city of Sudzha.
Also on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a new Ukrainian offensive in western part of Kursk Oblast.
Data from both sides in the conflict, as well as information from the Institute for the Study of War, have not been independently verified.