MOSCOW, Sept 11 (Askume) – Russian forces have launched a major counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces who swept into western Russia last month and recaptured some territory, pro-Moscow war bloggers and a senior Russian commander said.
On August 6, Ukraine launched its biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War II, with thousands of troops armed with heavy weapons including drones and Western-made weapons violating the border in the Kursk region.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen Ahmat special forces operating in Kursk, said Russian troops had gained control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, according to the TASS news agency.
“The situation is favourable for us,” said Araudinov, deputy minister of the military and political department of the Russian Defense Ministry, adding that Russian troops had repelled the attack.
“In total, about 10 settlements were liberated in the Kursk region,” he said.
Askume was unable to verify reports from the battlefield because of reporting restrictions on both sides of the war. Russian Defense Ministry reports on the fighting provide little information. Ukraine had no immediate comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that his troops controlled 100 settlements covering more than 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger Yuri Podolyaka and two other influential bloggers – Rybar and two majors – said Russian troops had already launched a massive counter-offensive at Kursk.
“In the Kursk region, Russian forces launched a counteroffensive on the western part of the enemy’s border, shrinking the control zone near the Ukrainian national border,” the two schools’ blog wrote.
Podolyanka said Russian troops captured several villages west of the Russian panhandle designated by Ukraine, and pushed Ukrainian troops east of the Maloyaloknaya River, south of Snegost.
