‘Euronews’ analyzes what we know so far about the Ukrainian cross-border assault on Russia’s Kursk region, which began on Tuesday.
In the past, Ukrainian forces have launched some incursions into Russian territory, the most recent being in March of this year, when three armed units crossed into the regions of Belgrade y Kursk from Ukrainewhich reportedly led to clashes with Russian forces in several settlements.
All of these raids were followed almost immediately by incessant attacks on the regional capital of Sumy and the region. But what started on tuesday morning in the quiet part of the border quickly became another type of raid.
No information or warning
All information and details about the current fighting in the Kursk region, specifically around the city of Sudzha, come almost exclusively of Russian official sources and Russian military bloggers.
There were no warnings, videos, photos or statements from Ukraine in the run-up and in the first hours of the operation, the preparation of which must have taken a long time.
The only time Ukrainian officials commented on what was happening in the Russian Kursk region was when member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andrii Kovalenko said that Russia did not control its border.
The Russian Defense Ministry initially reported that about 300 Ukrainian soldiers They had carried out a raid across the border with Russia, engaging in combat inside, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, as well as drones and missile attacks.
Moscow initially said the attacks were repelled. The acting regional governor, Alexei Smirnov, stated that he had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation, which he said was under control.
But Russian military bloggers continued to report that Ukrainian forces had captured various settlements y They entered Russian territory.
What forces are involved?
Responsibility for previous incursions into Russian territory has been claimed mainly by the Russian Volunteer Corps, the Russian Freedom Legion and the Sibir Battalion, formed by Russian volunteers fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
But this time, the Moscow statement stated that the Ukrainian forces belonged to the 22nd Army Mechanized Brigadethat is to say, non-volunteersbut the experienced soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraineseasoned in some of the toughest fighting, including in the Bakhmut area.
The brigade declined to comment., as well as the Russian Freedom Legion, the Ukrainian General Staff and the Ministry of Defense. On the Russian side, this border area in the Kursk region was controlled by the border control forceswhat They didn’t have enough soldiers in service.
So They were reinforced with recruits. Is about young russian soldiersfrom 18 and 19 years old, with little experience in these types of attacks. On the second day of the raid, Ukrainian media reported that dozens of Russian soldiers had surrendered to Ukraine in the Kursk region of Russia.
The deployment of drones provides tactical advantages
The Ukrainian operation across the border has the massive drone support and, specifically, drones with first person vision. The Ukrainian deployment of first-person view drones has provided notable tactical and strategic advantages against Russia.
According to information from Russia, on Tuesday, a Ukrainian FPV drone reached a russian attack helicopter Mi-28 Havoc over the Kursk region. The Mi-28 is an attack helicopter designed to search for and destroy enemy armored vehicles, aerial targets and personnel.
The video published after the alleged impact demonstrates the strategy Ukraine’s widest use various types of drones to disrupt Russian military operations on land, sea and air.
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There still being doubts about the benefits of similar actionsapart from the shock value and oblige apart from the russian troops a reinforce their defenses by moving troops from other places.
Some of the notable factors in relation to the attack axis are as follows: The Sudzha axis is located in one of the main railway lines: the Lgov-Belgorod railway line, which runs to Belgorod, the main logistics depot of the Russian Operational Group North in Kharkiv.
The area also has a great economic and energy importance. Sudzha gas metering and transfer stations are the single entry point for Russian natural gas into the Ukrainian gas transmission system for subsequent transportation to Europe.
Currently, about 42 million cubic meters of gas per day would pass through Sudzha. The total annual traffic volume is about 14 billion cubic meters. Two Russian military blogs claimed, without providing evidence, that Ukrainian forces had captured a gas measurement installation. These statements have not been able to be verified in an independent way.
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