Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) holds a meeting with members of the Security Council, government, representatives of the Presidential Administration and governors of Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions to discuss the response to an incursion by Ukrainian forces. Photo by Gavriil Grigorov/EPA-EFE
Aug. 13 (UPI) — A week-long ground offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region by Ukraine Armed Forces has captured more than 380 square miles of Russian territory and is going to plan, according to Ukraine Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Col. Gen. Syrskyi made the claim in an update to a meeting of top military brass Monday attended by President Volodymyr Zelensky, the first official statement by his administration on the incursion into Russia from Sumy province since it began on Aug. 6.
“As of now, we control about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of the territory of the Russian Federation. The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting is ongoing actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said in a video report posted on Zelensky’s Telegram channel.
Calling it an “operation,” Zelensky justified the offensive by saying the territory Ukraine forces had taken control of were those from which Russian artillery had been heavily bombarding eastern Ukraine.
“These are, in particular, the areas from which the Russian army launched strikes on our Sumy region. As of today, Sumy region has been shelled almost 2,100 times since June 1,” he said in his nightly address.
“Therefore, our operations are purely a security matter for Ukraine, the liberation of the border area from the Russian military.”
He added that going on the offensive against Russian President Vladimir Putin in this way could actually improve the prospects for peace.
“Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly,” said Zelensky.
However, the U.S.-based Insitute for the Study of War said the extent of the ground the Ukraine advance covered was more like 310 square miles, as far as it understood, and that Ukrainian forces did not control all of it.
“ISW does not assess that Ukrainian forces control all of the territory within the maximalist extent of claimed Ukrainian advances,” ISW said in a news update.
The institute pointed out that Russian forces occupied an additional 454 square miles of Ukrainian territory in the seven months to the end of July, captured both from dug-in Ukrainian defenses and Russia’s surprise May offensive on Kharkiv province.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reiterated his condemnation of the incursion as a “major provocation,” on Monday vowed at a meeting of security, defense and local officials from affected regions that Russia would “kick the enemy out of our territory.”
Putin alleged that Ukraine was “committing crimes” against Russians in its attack and threatened his forces would mete out a “worthy response” to Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it had thwarted Ukrainian efforts to penetrate deeper into Kursk after rushing in reinforcements and reserves to the border and by attacking the enemy from the air and had “assumed control” of the region.
However, the claim was refuted by a prominent Kremlin-affiliated military blogger who reported that Russian forces were a long way from gaining control of the situation due to poor command and control.
Putin announced a shake-up at the meeting of the response to the incursion delegating overlying tasks to the defense ministry, Federal Security Service and national guard in the border area which the ISW suggested confirmed Russia’s force grouping in Kursk was having problems building the joint command and control framework necessary to coordinate operations.
He reprimanded local governors who have been using language such as “alarming” and “very difficult” in their comments on the security crisis ordering them to stick to talking about socio-economic issues and leave military matters to the defense ministry.
Putin also switched tack telling the meeting that the incursion was a bid by Kyiv to bolster its hand in possible future peace talks but said the tactic had backfired.
Russia could not enter good faith negotiations, he said, with an opponent “indiscriminately striking civilians, civilian infrastructure, and threatening nuclear power facilities,” contradicting the Kremlin’s long-standing claim that Kyiv has no interest in negotiating.
The Russian Defense Ministry insisted Tuesday it was implementing Putin’s order “to kick out the enemy” saying it had gained the initiative and had “assumed control” of Kursk, inflicting losses on Ukraine forces of 1,610 military personnel, 32 tanks and 23 armored vehicles.
“Russian forces have assumed control of the situation in the country’s Kursk Region and the enemy is being ousted from occupied settlements,” said Akhmat Special Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Apty Alaudinov.
“It is worth noting that as of today, the situation is under control, most of the territory where the enemy was located has been protected. Mop-up activities are underway to knock out the enemy from all residential areas,” he said on state-run television, according to the state-run TASS news agency.