The American Institute for the Study of War has published a new report on the situation in the Russo-Ukrainian war. The experts paid close attention to the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk Oblast.
Ukraine’s progress in the Kursk region
The advances of Ukrainian forces in Kursk Oblast have a significant impact on the strategic situation in the region. Effective attacks on infrastructure and reconnaissance operations destabilize Russian defense and logistics lines. Russia managed to repel some of the Ukrainian attacks, but the offensive still puts pressure on the Russian defense and forces it to respond on several levels, including political and humanitarian.
In recent days, Ukrainian operational forces have concentrated their operations on the southeastern outskirts of Suja. Russian sources, including so-called milbloggers, report Ukrainian advances in the area of Mirny and Spalnoye. Available video materials from August 15 confirm that Ukrainian units were also operating in the vicinity of the village of Borki, located southeast of Suja.
Attacks by sabotage and reconnaissance groups
As ISW experts note, Ukrainian mobile units, consisting mainly of small reconnaissance groups, carried out limited strikes in the Kursk Oblast. Their main target was the rear of Russian positions, with the aim of weakening Russian defense and logistics.
The defense, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, managed to repel a Ukrainian mechanized attack on Gordeevka and Ukrainian attacks west of Anastasyevka and southeast of Kauchuk. The area of these operations is approximately 27 km from the state border, which shows the extent to which Ukrainians already operate
Ukrainian HIMARS attacks on bridges
The Ukrainian armed forces also carried out successful attacks on bridges in the Glushkovo area, which led to their destruction. These bridges, which are extremely important elements of the Russian communications infrastructure, were destroyed as a result of precision strikes using the HIMARS system.
The destruction of the bridge in Glushkovo was confirmed by geolocation recordings published on August 16. The destruction of bridges in the region makes it significantly more difficult for Russian forces to maintain effective lines of communication and logistics.
Attacks in the Belgorod region
According to ISW: “The recent attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces in the western part of Belgorod Oblast have reached a greater extent than previously reported.” According to experts, the Ukrainian units that carried out attacks in the area of the Kolotilovka border crossing managed to advance up to 10 kilometers into Russian territory.
Available sources, however, allow us to state that intense air strikes and artillery fire from the Russian side forced Ukrainian troops to withdraw from these positions. However, Ukrainian troops still maintained maneuverability in this region.
