Ukraine Launches New Offensive In Kursk, Marks 6 Months Of Holding Russian Territory

Ukraine launched a fresh offensive on Russian territory in the Kursk region, Russia’s military confirmed Thursday, which marks six months since Kiev forces first crossed the border in a risky gambit to take and control territory inside Russian borders.

The defense ministry announced Russian troops had “foiled an attempted counter-offensive by the Ukrainian armed forces.” Kremlin officials have condemned the Ukrainian operation as a big distraction from the front lines in the Donbass, where Moscow is clearly winning.

What’s clear is that Zelensky sees Kursk as a big (and perhaps lone) bargaining chip. Ukraine has little leverage in what’s expected to be an upcoming negotiated peace settlement, so it looks to be trying to grab on to all it can, amid Trump pressure to engage in discussions with Moscow.

Zelensky in a Thursday social media post urged his forces to keep up the fight in Kursk. “The occupier can and should be beaten on its territory,” he wrote. “The Kursk operation clearly explains the meaning of the principle of ‘peace through strength’” – in what was also a clear appeal for external Western backers to step up support.

Kiev has also touted that its forces captured 909 Russian soldiers during the six-month offensive there. This as there was just another successful POW swap involving 300 troops (with each side releasing 150 of the imprisoned).

Zelensky said of captured Russians, “We have significantly replenished our exchange fund — hundreds and hundreds of Russian soldiers whom we are exchanging to bring Ukrainians back from captivity” in the context of the Kursk offensive.

But again, the Kremlin has emphasized that it stopped the new offensive. According to the AFP:

It said the new fighting was around the villages of Ulanok and Cherkasskaya Konopelka, southeast of the regional hub of Sudzha, which is under Ukrainian control. The area is about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russia said Ukraine had deployed two mechanized battalions, tanks and armored vehicles in the attempted attack. There has been no comment on the fresh offensive from officials in Kyiv.

Russia has further claimed that Ukraine’s losses in the new assaulted totaled over 200 service members and about 50 combat and support vehicles, including eight tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles, one armored personnel carrier and 30 armored fighting vehicles, and other equipment, as cited in TASS.

But there are competing narratives on who ultimately has the upper-hand in Kursk region…

Special Report | Ukraine’s Kursk Incursion: Six Month Assessment

A small group of Ukrainian troops in Kursk Oblast have complicated the Russian military’s efforts to advance in Ukraine over the last six months. Roughly a division’s worth of Ukrainian troops have undermined… pic.twitter.com/Y8NW64fdBf

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) February 6, 2025

Still, given six months have past since the August Kursk offensive began, regaining territory has been a struggle for Russa. But President Putin has likely not made it a top priority enough to transfer forces from the Donbass, which what Kiev has hoping he would do. The Kremlin didn’t take the bait of dividing the bulk of its forces, it appears.