MOSCOW, Sept 16 (Askume) – Russia said on Monday its troops had seized control of two villages in the western Kursk region from Ukraine, in what Moscow described as a massive retaliatory strike .
Russian troops have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region since August 6, when Kiev surprised Moscow by launching the biggest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War II.
Askume was unable to independently verify Russian Defence Ministry reports that its forces had retaken the settlements of Uspenovka and Borki. They lie about 20 kilometres (12 miles) apart on the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region.
A senior Russian commander and pro-Kremlin war blogger said last week that Russia had retaken control of about 10 settlements in the region, but Askume could not confirm this.
Ukraine says its forces control about 100 villages covering more than 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) in Kursk, but Russian sources dispute this.
Meanwhile, Russian troops are advancing toward Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine , a major rail and logistics hub for Kiev’s forces. Capturing the area would be a step toward Russia’s goal of seizing the entire Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine’s Kursk incursion had slowed down Russia’s military operation in eastern Ukraine . But Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kursk attack proved to be a distraction from Kiev’s eastern front and weakened the country’s defense capabilities.
Russia and Ukraine over the weekendThe two carried out a prisoner swap , involving hundreds of prisoners of war. The Defense Ministry said many Russian soldiers were captured while defending Kursk.
