Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region may force Moscow to redeploy troops from other sectors, said Janek Kesselmann, the deputy commander of the Estonian Military Intelligence Center, in comments reported by ERR on Aug. 9.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian forces were fighting Ukrainian soldiers on the western outskirts of the town of Sudzha as Kyiv's incursion continues into the fourth day.
"It is likely that Russia's Armed Forces were not prepared for a Ukrainian offensive in this area, and the attack came as a surprise to them," Kesselmann said.
According to unofficial reports, Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 15 kilometers (9 miles) into the Kursk region. Kesselmann does not rule out that Ukraine could have partially crossed the second line of defense in the Kursk region.
"Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region is likely to lead to the redeployment of Russian units from other areas to support the defensive actions of Russian Federation units and counterattacks against Ukraine's forces in the area," he added.
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said on Aug. 9 that the situation in the Kursk region has been declared a "federal emergency."
The battles are ongoing "a few dozen kilometers" from Kurchatov in the Kursk region, claimed the town's mayor, Igor Korpunkov. 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 region.
Francis Farrell
