The illegitimate president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, ordered that Russian soldiers recapture the lost territories of the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces before weather conditions worsen, which will limit their maneuvers on the battlefield.
Points of attention
- Ukrainian troops are holding their positions, not retreating against the backdrop of Russian counterattacks.
- Autumn and winter weather conditions will contribute to Ukrainian defense.
- The window of opportunity for Russians in the Kursk region is constantly shrinking due to Ukraine's resistance and limited resources.
The Russian army is unsuccessfully trying to return the lost Russian territories
According to the data of the American Institute for the Study of War, on October 10-11, the Russian invaders have already intensified counterattacks in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
Despite the fact that Russian military bloggers claim that the Russians are advancing, the ISW team points out that there is no confirmation of these claims.
What is important to understand is whether it was about the advance of the Russians in the Suzhan district, or the alleged ousting of Ukrainian forces from most of the Glushkovsky district on October 10 and 11, or the alleged encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the Korenevsky district in Kurshchyna.
However, as it later turned out, this was a lie, because the Ukrainian soldiers did not retreat from the captured positions.
Autumn and winter weather will help the Ukrainians to maintain their defense
As the American Institute for the Study of War points out, the Russian military command is very confused by the fact that bad weather conditions in the fall of 2024 and at the beginning of the winter of 2024-2025 will contribute to positional battles in the Kursk region.
What is important to understand is that they will also give the Defense Forces of Ukraine more time to better consolidate their positions.
Better entrenched Ukrainian troops with a more extensive fortification network in the Kursk region are likely to further complicate Russia's attempts to push Ukrainian troops back across the border, the report said.
The Russian army is also aware that the window of opportunity to dislodge Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region with the level of manpower and equipment that the Russians have allocated for this is gradually closing.
