Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, who invaded Russia last summer and seized significant territory, are almost surrounded by Russian armed forces and have no access to their main supply lines, Reuters reported, citing battlefield maps from open sources, BTA reports.
The situation for Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region has deteriorated sharply over the past three days, battlefield maps show, according to which the Russian army has recaptured territory as part of a gathering counteroffensive that has almost succeeded in splitting Ukrainian forces in two.
According to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, Ukrainian defense forces are fighting Russian assault groups trying to to break through the defenses along the border with the Ukrainian Sumy region.
“Heavy fighting continues in the Sumy region, Russian assault groups are trying to break through the defenses and advance towards the highway from Yunakivka to Sudzha in the Kursk region“, wrote in the “Telegram“ application the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council.
Earlier, media reported that the Russian army had broken through the Ukrainian defense line south of the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region, Ukrinform notes.
The uncertain situation on the battlefield for Ukraine means that its forces may be forced to make a politically inconvenient and morale-threatening retreat back to Ukraine or risk being captured or killed at a time when Kiev is under increasing pressure from the United States to agree to a ceasefire with Russia, Reuters notes.
“The situation (for Ukraine) is very bad“, said military analyst Pasi Paroinen of the Finland-based think tank “Black Bird Group“ (Black Bird Group).
“There is not much time left now until Ukrainian forces are either surrounded or forced to retreat. And retreating would mean they would have to take a dangerous route that would put their forces under constant threat from Russian drones and artillery,“ he said.
“If Ukrainian forces do not improve the situation quickly, this could be the moment when the Kursk Bulge will finally start to close and become a sack,“ Paroinen said.
The Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region in August was the largest attack on Russian territory since Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. and was intended to bring the war to ordinary Russian citizens, whom the Kremlin is trying to shield from the consequences of the fighting in Ukraine, Reuters points out.
Maps by the authoritative Ukrainian military blog “Deep State“ (Deep State), summarizing information about the battlefield with free access, showed today that about three-quarters of Ukrainian forces in Russia are almost completely surrounded.
They are connected to the remaining Ukrainian forces, which are closer to the border, by a land corridor that is about one kilometer long and less than 500 meters wide at its narrowest point. Russian forces are trying to cut this corridor as well.
Influential Russian military blogger Yuri Podolyakova said that Russian forces have broken through the front line south of the Russian city of Sudzha. "The Russian armed forces have driven a wedge deep (up to four kilometers deep) and reached the reserve supply route to Sudzha (which the enemy was using because the main route is unusable)," Podoliaka wrote on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian General Staff said today that its forces had repelled 32 Russian attacks in the Kursk region over the past day.