Ukraine launches new offensive in Kursk, Russia

Ukraine launched a new surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region on Sunday, aiming to retaliate after months of pressure ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The assault appears to be a major effort to seize new territory in the region, where kyiv’s forces first crossed the border with a stunning incursion last August. Since then, the Kremlin has retaken some of its own territory, but has struggled to fully expel invading troops, even deploying thousands of North Korean troops in recent weeks.

Reports of the new offensive first appeared in the accounts of influential Russian military bloggers early Sunday, before officials in Kiev, and then in Moscow’s Defense Ministry, confirmed that Ukrainian forces had launched a new effort important to move forward.

NBC News could not independently verify these claims.

“The defense forces are actively working,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, said on Telegram. “The situation in the Kursk region appears to be causing great concern among Russians, as they have been unexpectedly attacked on several fronts.”

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, also said: “Kursk region, good news: Russia gets what it deserves. »

Hours later, Russian state media cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying its troops had repelled two Ukrainian attacks in Kursk on Sunday.

“Over the past 24 hours, the “North” group in the Kursk direction defeated the forces of 14 Ukrainian brigades and repelled two counterattacks,” the Defense Ministry said, according to the Russian news agency RIA .

The offensive follows months of setbacks for Ukraine.

Since the surprise incursion into Russia in August, the US ally’s military has faced low morale and numbers amid a barrage of Russian attacks.

kyiv’s forces have largely resisted Russian attempts to expel them from Kursk, but they have remained on the defensive as the Kremlin’s army attempts to retake territory and seize new lands by advancing through the lines of eastern front of the war.