The Russian garrison in Kurshchyna consists mostly of poorly trained young conscripts who, according to the Kremlin's policy, should not have been involved in hostilities.
Points of attention
- Ukrainian forces succeeded in recapturing part of Kurshchyna due to inexperienced Russian conscripts.
- The Russian army can respond to the Ukrainian offensive with the help of airborne forces.
- The number of Russian military personnel in Kursk region exceeds the planned needs for intervention in the region.
- As of September, there are 33,000 to 35,000 Russian servicemen in Kursk Oblast.
The Russian Federation fails to capture the Kursk region
As noted, on September 12, Ukrainian sappers broke through the defensive positions of the Russians near the village of Novy Put, located approximately 30 km west of the salient in the Kursk region.
What at first looked like a small assault quickly turned into a serious threat to Russian troops. Ukrainian armored vehicles advanced several kilometers beyond Novy Put in the direction of the city of Vesele. By Saturday, Ukrainian forces reached the southern outskirts of this settlement and practically took it under control, the publication notes.
The publication also reminds that on September 15, a fighter jet of the Armed Forces dropped a satellite-guided bomb on a Russian position in the central part of Vesely.
The operation was supported by the drones of the "Khorne" UAV unit, which monitored the results of the strike.
As noted by Forbes, it was the participation of inexperienced soldiers that probably became the reason for the rapid advancement of the Armed Forces in this direction.
This situation could be an alarming signal for the Russians, as Vesely's defense capacity relies on untrained young men. If the Russian army responds as it did to previous attacks in the Kursk region, they can redeploy their best airborne forces to contain the Ukrainian offensive.
What is known about the number of personnel of the Russian army in Kurshchyna
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, specified that the aggressor country plans to concentrate 60,000 to 70,000 military personnel in the Kursk region.
What is important to understand is that this number significantly exceeds the 50,000 soldiers of the Russian Federation, which, according to US estimates, Russia will need to push the Ukrainians out of the Kursk region.
According to Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets, as of September 13, there are between 33,000 and 35,000 Russian servicemen in the territory of the Kursk region.
Until now, the Russian authorities have mainly relied on poorly trained and equipped conscripts and small units of Russian regular and irregular forces to counter the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region, ISW writes.
