Ukrainian media report fierce fighting in the Kursk region as the offensive is mostly halted. Meanwhile, US mercenaries publish images of taking part in the war in Ukraine, while President Zelensky unsuccessfully seeks to bring men of draft age back to Ukraine.
Situation in Kursk region
An offensive on Korenevo has been underway for four days in the north-west of the Kursk Region. It is reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) are constantly moving tanks into the region to provide fire support to the infantry entrenched along the Rylsk-Korenevo-Sudzha Road.
Military experts assume that Ukrainian troops will try to take Rylsk and also pass to Korenevo through the Apanasovka-Snagost border. This confirms the importance of Korenevo for a further strike on Rylsk.
In the central region, Russian troops are actively combing the area in search of Ukrainian military lurking in Skrylovka and Sheptukhovka. Ukrainian media report active operations by Russian artillery on the Malaya Loknya-Viktorovka-Leonidovka section. The AFU is also pulling up reserves through the P-200 road.
The actions of Ukrainian troops in the region show a presumed attempt to actively change military tactics. Russian forces are expecting a strike at Korenevo or an accumulation of AFU forces for an offensive in another area, according to Russian media.
Media also report the involvement of an American private military company in the Kursk region battles. In a photo posted on Instagram, three men from the Forward Observation Group PMC pose next to an armoured HMMWV, with FOG founder Derrick Bales in the centre.
Ilario Piagnerelli, a journalist of the Italian TV channel Rai News 24, interviewed an AFU soldier wearing a cap with the symbols of the German SS division “Adolf Hitler”. The soldier later said he “deeply regretted” it, but called the social media hype a tool of pro-Russian propaganda.
Resources dwindle
Marines of the Russian 810th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade have defeated a column of NATO vehicles in the Kursk border area. It is reported that fighters of the Black Sea Fleet of the North group of troops stopped the Ukrainian convoy from advancing.
They destroyed the 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade and 9 vehicles, including a Stryker APC, armoured vehicles HMMWV and Kozak. In addition to the captured soldiers, they also managed to seize 2 Stryker APCs, a Canadian Roshel SARV armoured vehicle and a Cougar MRAP.
Previously, a Marine from the 810th Brigade shared a video of them hijacking a US HMMWV vehicle.
Greetings! We are from Russia. Black Sea Fleet, the 810th [Brigade], motherf****r! (…) I don’t know, can you see me, no? Can you f***ing hear me? But we’ve just nicked a Hummer from these f***ers!
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky persuaded his allies to return men of draft age to Ukraine but received a refusal, Bloomberg reported.
Zelensky tried to push his allies to help bring more men of fighting age back to Ukraine by asking for their help at bilateral meetings. People between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving Ukraine due to the war. In May, Ukraine passed a mobilisation law that aims to replenish the army with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. However, politicians from Poland to Hungary said they would not send refugees back as long as the war continued.
But there’s also a key economic reason to keep them, especially in countries whose leaderships have been adverse to immigration in recent years. Companies, for example, are being forced to search further afield for workers to fill jobs at newly built car or battery factories.
Nevertheless, employees of Territorial Recruitment Centres (TRCs) are trying to forcibly compensate for losses in the army, but are met with resistance from citizens. The work of TRCs in Ternopil spread on social media:
Donbas weakens
In Donbas (common name for Luhansk and Donetsk regions), the Russian Defence Ministry announced the seizure of Niu-York (Novhorodske) near Toretsk. Russian troops have also taken positions on the left bank of the Vovcha River, except for some “grey” areas.
To the west, Ukrainian troops ceded Zhuravka, according to Ukrainian media. AFU soldiers are also losing positions near Krutyi Yar and Krasnyi Yar, opening the door for an attack on Novohrodivka.
Many reports require further verification, but both Russian and Ukrainian media have noted a slowdown in the previously rapid offensive in the Kursk region and a weakening of Ukrainian defences in the Donbas. Military experts attribute the loss of Ukrainian military capabilities to the stretched front line, lack of manpower, and placing scarce equipment under Russian strikes.
