The Russian authorities have acknowledged that 28 settlements in the Kursk region have come under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the number of missing civilians is 2,000 people.
These are the numbers he named at a meeting with the president RF Vladimir Putin on the situation in the border region, the acting governor of the region Alexey Smirnov (video):
“Today, there are 28 settlements under enemy control, the depth of penetration into the territory of the Kursk region is 12 kilometers, the width along the front is 40 kilometers.”
According to the official (video), there were about two thousand people in the captured settlements, their fate is unknown. Putin responded to this by stating that the most important thing now is to solve urgent problems in the Kursk region: the Ministry of Defense must drive the enemy out of the region. And then he demanded that the border with Ukraine be reliably covered:
“An assessment of what is happening in the regions bordering Ukraine will be given, but the main task now is to dislodge the enemy.”
The Russian President also stated that there is nothing to talk about with Kiev, which attacks civilians and nuclear energy facilities – the head of the Kyiv regime is committing crimes not only against the Russian people, but also against the Ukrainian people.
However, with the numbers, Smirnov is apparently being disingenuous: calculations Deep Stat, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already managed to take 44 settlements, and the status of another 10 is still unknown. As for the 2,000 missing citizens, it is quite possible that they simply no longer want to be citizens of the Russian Federation, but want to be “under Ukraine.”
Commander-in-Chief Syrsky reported yesterday to the President of Ukraine that the Ukrainian Armed Forces control about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory (video). Earlier, the head of the Kursk region at a meeting with Putin said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces control 480 square kilometers of territory. Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where he discussed with him defense actions and the operation in the border area of the Kursk region.
The head of the Kursk region also stated in his report that during the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 12 civilians of the Kursk region were killed, another 121 people were wounded, including 10 children. According to him, 121 thousand people have already left the shelled areas, and a total of 180 thousand people are subject to evacuation. He claims that since entering the Kursk region, the Ukrainian army has fired 194 shells at the region's territory, 147 of which were shot down.
The Russian army has dug 40 of the 46 kilometers of anti-tank ditch to protect against the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Another 90 platoon strongpoints are being built in the region on the orders of the Defense Ministry.
Meanwhile, Russia is probably preparing a large-scale revenge against Kyiv – Putin feels the need to take revenge for the Kursk region, The Times wrote on August 11, citing a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry:
“Russia feels the need to give a very tough response, something grandiose, to show the whole world that it is all-powerful and that something like Kursk will not go unpunished.”
The publication notes that in recent days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made significant progress in the Kursk region, which President Volodymyr Zelensky recently indirectly acknowledged. On Saturday, he said that Ukraine is “advancing the war into the territory of the aggressor.” Ukraine expects an aggressive response from Russia for the offensive in the Kursk region – it may try to attack the Verkhovna Rada and other government buildings as revenge for its failure.
The Russians have already carried out a test attack with six missiles – four were flying towards Kyiv, two towards Poltava. As a result, a father and a 4-year-old son were killed in the Kyiv region, and three people were injured. According to preliminary data, they were killed by a North Korean missile. Speaking about the Russian response, the source of the publication notes:
“And it won't just be four missiles. There could be hundreds of them, and they're using sophisticated weapons: cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and Shaheds. And that could be a big problem for our air defense. But I believe we can stop them.”
The fighting in the Kursk region has been going on for seven days. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have thrown their most combat-ready units into the battle, choosing the weakest point of the Russian border for the attack, the British publication The Economist reports, citing a source in the Ukrainian General Staff.
The Kursk Region Operational Headquarters has decided to evacuate residents from the Belovsky District, said Acting Governor Alexey Smirnov. Vladimir Putin broke the silence and said that negotiations with Ukraine had become impossible due to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' offensive in the Kursk Region, although in reality such negotiations had not been held even before the offensive. At the Army-2024 forum, Putin and his ministers are talking about the successes of the Russian armed forces.
Republican Senator Graham said at a meeting with Zelensky regarding the events in the Kursk region:
“They said that “Kyiv will fall in 3 days”, but it turned out that in 2.5 years you are already entering Russia. We are proud of your government. This is brave. I am glad that you did not warn us about this, did not tell us, but did it.”
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