Russia says it sent more equipment to Kursk Oblast to repel Ukrainian offensive

Russia is sending additional military equipment to Kursk Oblast's Sudzha district, where Ukrainian forces have reportedly launched an offensive, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Aug. 9.

Following a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces across the border days earlier, fighting has continued in the oblast, with Ukraine reportedly making gains deeper into Russian territory.

Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged on Aug. 9 that its forces were fighting the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha.

The ministry published a video on Aug. 9 showing convoys of military equipment allegedly on their way to Kursk Oblast.

The Russian forces are transporting BM-21 (Grad) multiple rocket launchers, artillery, tanks, and Ural and KamAZ trucks, according to the ministry.

Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said on Aug. 9 that the situation in Kursk Oblast had been declared a "federal emergency."

The battles are ongoing "a few dozen kilometers" from Kurchatov in Kursk Oblast, the town's mayor, Igor Korpunkov, claimed. The town is located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Ukraine's Sumy Oblast and hosts the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

Kursk Oblast lies on the border with Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, which has been experiencing daily attacks since Russian troops were pushed out of the oblast and back across the border in April 2022.

Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 8 that "Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done." He did not directly mention the incursion into the Kursk Oblast.

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The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell