ISW analyzed reports from Russia regarding attempts to breach the border in the Kursk region

As reported by Radio Svoboda, the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that during raids in the Kursk region, Russian troops destroyed 16 Ukrainian armored vehicles and that Russian forces carried out retaliatory strikes in the Sumy region. However, most of the damage shown in footage by Russian bloggers appears to be the result of regular shelling and does not indicate a ground operation in the area. This is stated in a report by the American Institute for the Study of War.

It is noted that on August 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Federal Security Service stated that Russian border guards and FSB officers repelled several raids from Ukraine, which involved tanks and armored vehicles of approximately one battalion near Mykolaevo-Darynо and Oleshnya in the Kursk region.

“Geolocated footage published on August 6 shows damaged and abandoned armored vehicles approximately seven kilometers north of the international border west of Lyubimovka in the Kursk region; Russian sources claimed that the footage showed Ukrainian vehicles, but ISW cannot confirm whether the armored vehicles are Russian, Ukrainian, or both,” the analysts wrote.

The acting governor of the Kursk region, Aleksey Smirnov, and several Russian milbloggers warned that fighting continues in the border areas of Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts of the Kursk region, contrary to reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense and the FSB, ISW added.

On August 6, Russian local authorities reported an attempted border breach in the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts of the Kursk region. The Russian Ministry of Defense accused Ukrainian forces of attacking Russian positions in the Kursk region.

The Ukrainian side has not responded to these statements.

Tags: Russia russia ukraine war Ukraine ukrainecounteroffensive