Russia Launches Major Counteroffensive in Ukraine’s Kursk Region, Ukrainian Project Reports

Russia's military has initiated a significant counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, according to a report from Ukrainian monitoring group Deepstate. The project, which tracks military movements, said late Thursday, October 10, that Russian units were making gains in the districts of Korenevsky, Sudzhansky, and Glushkovsky. Russian pro-war bloggers and Telegram channels corroborated these claims, suggesting a coordinated assault by Moscow's forces.

The Telegram channel "Rybar," which has close ties to Russia's Ministry of Defense, stated that Russian troops had nearly expelled Ukrainian forces from the Glushkovsky district. Meanwhile, the channel "Two Majors" reported that Russian forces had advanced near the village of Zeleny Shlyakh in the Sudzhansky district. In the Korenevsky district, Ukrainian troops reportedly lost over 38 square kilometers of territory on October 10 alone. The Telegram channel "Agency" noted that this represents the largest single-day territorial loss for Ukraine in the Kursk region in the past month.

Russian forces have made additional gains, according to the North Wind Telegram channel. By the evening of October 10, Russian troops reportedly captured five settlements and encircled at least two Ukrainian battalions, severing two key supply and evacuation routes. On October 11, Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen special forces unit "Akhmat," claimed in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda that Russian forces had recaptured 15 settlements in the Kursk region.

Despite these advances, Ukraine’s Deepstate project described the situation in the region as "difficult, but controlled" on October 11. The project stated that Russian forces had incurred heavy losses during their assaults and could face challenges holding newly captured positions. According to Deepstate, intense fighting continued near the village of Lyubimovka.

Independent military analyst Yan Matveev echoed these assessments, noting that the full extent of the Russian offensive remains unclear due to "the fog of war." Both Ukrainian and Russian sources have reported their own successes, complicating efforts to verify developments on the ground.

Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Alexander Syrsky, confirmed in an October 10 documentary that Russia has transferred approximately 50,000 troops to the Kursk region, redeploying forces from Zaporozhye, Kherson, and Kramatorsk. Syrsky suggested this repositioning could ease Ukraine’s defense operations in other areas, according to RBC-Ukraine. However, the concentration of Russian forces in the Kursk region poses a significant challenge for Ukrainian military planners as the battle unfolds.

The Russian counteroffensive in Kursk adds another layer of complexity to the broader conflict, as both sides continue to contest control over critical areas. As fighting intensifies, the situation on the ground remains fluid, with significant implications for both Russia and Ukraine’s military strategies going forward.