Ukraine has said it is continuing to fight in Kursk despite Moscow’s claims it has recaptured the Russian region,
Russian officials said on April 26 that Moscow’s troops had retaken all of the Kursk region where Ukraine had staged an incursion in August.
But President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian military officials said their forces were continuing defensive operations.
Newsweek’s map shows how the front line in the Kursk region has developed over the last eight months.
The Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries have been contacted for comment.
TATYANA MAKEYEVA/Getty Images
Why It Matters
Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 saw Kyiv make swift gains which were hoped to be an effective bargaining chip in ending the war. While Russia’s response was slow, it has now recaptured much of the territory with the help of North Korean soldiers.
What to Know
Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said Saturday that Russian forces had pushed had fully defeated Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region and seized Gornal, southwest of Sudzha, the last Ukrainian-held settlement in the region.
The Ukrainian General Staff refuted Moscow’s claims and said Ukrainian forces maintain unspecified positions in the region where they continued to repel Russian assaults.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian military officials said on Monday that fighting continues in the Kursk direction.
Newsweek’s map shows how Ukraine’s gains which at the operation’s height, included over 90 towns and covered nearly 540 square miles have shrunk to only include a few pockets of territory today.
Independent Russian language website Meduza said that Russian troops had taken a monastery near the Psel river and advanced to the village of Gornal near the border, although it is not clear who controls the surrounding area.
However, northeast of Gornal, on the other bank of the Psel, Ukraine’s forces probably still remain, according to the outlet.
Russian troops also do not control the border strip on the Seim (Seym) river opposite the village of Tyotkino although Ukrainian forces also do not have permanent control over this area, Meduza added.
Newsweek/ISW/Esri
Pro-Russian Telegram channels cited by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have said that Moscow’s forces continue to conduct clearing operations near Gornal and Oleshnya, southwest of Sudzha.
Other military bloggers have said Russian forces still need to push Ukrainian forces across the last few meters to the border and that Kyiv’s troops repelling Russian assaults in Kursk showed that Russian forces do not have full control of the region.
Kyiv has said that the Kursk incursion has forced Russia to commit troops from elsewhere and so stalled their advances in Ukraine which wanted to protect its Sumy border region.
However, some analysts said it accelerated Russia’s in eastern Ukraine due to the diversion of Kyiv’s forces to Kursk.
On the diplomatic front, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Ukraine is not on track to defeat Russia on the battlefield, as he defended the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate a peace deal.
What People Are Saying
Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov on April 26: “the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, on April 28: “Our military continues to operate in the Kursk and Belgorod regions— we maintain our presence in Russia.”
What Happens Next
As hopes fade that Ukraine’s hold on territory in Kursk can act as leverage in negotiations, Vance’s recent comments will increase speculation over whether the U.S. will remain involved in the peace process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the next week will determine whether the U.S. remains as a mediator.
