Russia moved 5,000 military personnel from Ukraine to Kursk region
The Russian military command has transferred a group of 5,000 soldiers from the front line in Ukraine to the Kursk region to repel the invasion of the Ukrainian army . several sources familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal.
According to their information , Russia has moved several small brigades. One of them was transferred from the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and the rest were relocated from areas of less strategic importance.
The Russian military command may have to withdraw even more troops from the front line in Ukraine to recapture the captured territories in the Kursk region. According to the source, the Russian army will need a group of 20,000 well-trained soldiers for such an operation.
According to the calculations of Western military analysts, Ukraine has deployed up to 6,000 soldiers in Kursk, and another 4,000 soldiers are stationed in the Sumy region to perform auxiliary duties. The source said that in order not to weaken the front, a significant part of these troops was mobilized from the reserve forces that Ukraine is building with the support of the West for operations at the end of this year and in 2025.
Last Friday, two senior U.S. officials told CNN that the Russian command had moved several units from Ukraine, each of at least 1,000 men, to the Kursk region.
According to them, the main purpose of the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( UAF ) is to create a "strategic dilemma" for Russian President Vladimir Putin - he should send troops. But there are hundreds of thousands of Russian troops on the front lines in Ukraine, so redeploying a few thousand troops is unlikely to have much impact in the short term, CNN sources said.
Two other sources of the TV channel said that Russia has not yet transferred its large and combat-ready units from Ukraine to Kursk. Instead, the Russian command decided to strengthen the defense of the Kursk region mainly through military personnel from other regions of Russia, one of the interviewees added.
The withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine "does not mean that Putin is abandoning military operations in northeastern Ukraine, or even in the south, in places like Zaporizhia ," said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
At the same time, American and Western officials familiar with the latest intelligence warned that it is unlikely that Ukraine will hold the occupied territories in the Kursk region for long. However, they believe it is too early to tell how this operation will affect the overall outcome of the war.
1150 square meters were destroyed during the offensive of the Ukrainian army in the Kursk region, which began on August 6 . km. On Thursday, August 15, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Sirsky announced that the square and 82 settlements were under the control of Ukrainian troops . The exact number of captured Russian servicemen is not known, but as the Independent writes, citing a well-informed source in the Ukrainian military, their number may be 2,000, including conscripts.
There is also no official information on the number of Russian military casualties, but it is estimated that around 500 Russian soldiers and officers were killed in the attack on the convoy near Rylsk on August 9 alone. On Friday, August 16, it became known that the armed forces of Ukraine destroyed another Russian convoy in the Kursk region. Therefore, the number of victims may be even higher.
Against the background of the fighting on the territory of Russia, the regime of "anti-terror operation" (STO) was introduced in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions. A federal state of emergency has also been declared in Kursk and Belgorod regions.
