Ukraine launched a counterattack in the Kursk region of Russia on Sunday, warning that Moscow is "getting what it deserves", CNN reported. Kyiv's forces had carried out a shock ground offensive in Kursk last August.
It was not immediately clear how much Ukraine had advanced in the region, but pro-Kremlin military bloggers claimed earlier that a powerful new offensive was under way.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, an official body, announced that Ukrainian forces had launched surprise attacks against Russian forces in various locations in Kursk.
In a short post shared on Telegram, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak said, “Kursk region, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves.”
Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said, "At about 9:00 am Moscow time (0600 GMT), in order to halt the advance of Russian troops in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counterattack."
The latest assault by Ukraine came at a critical juncture in the nearly three-year conflict, with both sides seeking to strengthen their negotiating hand ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House on January 20.
The Ukrainian military first conducted an incursion into Kursk in August and has held much of the territory it took, despite efforts made by Russian forces and recently deployed North Korean soldiers to send back Ukrainian troops across the border.
Ukraine reportedly used two tanks, a dozen armoured vehicles and a demolition unit in the assault, which was directed towards the village of Berdin – about 15 kilometres (nine miles) northeast of Sudzha, Moscow said.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, air power had been used against Ukrainian forces in several areas. Subsequently, a blog related to Russia's Northern Group of Forces said that its units were heading ahead, CNN reported.
It further said that there were “active hostilities in Sudzha district, the enemy is acting in mobile groups on armoured vehicles, our aviation and artillery are working, small arms battles are going on.”
The Kursk offensive at the time of its launch took allies of Russia and Ukraine by surprise. Ukrainian troops advanced quickly, and although, Russia eventually started to push their forces back, the line of control has not changed dramatically in the past few months.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Russian forces lost up to a battalion of North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers in battles near Makhnovka village. A battalion normally comprises several hundred soldiers.
Unofficial Russian military blogs, which often give reliable information on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said that there was fighting happening on Sunday. One said that the Ukrainian forces were pushing north towards Berdin, CNN reported.
Speaking to CNN, a senior Ukrainian officer said that Russia had started heavy bombardment of Sudzha town which Ukrainians took in August last year.
Colonel Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi, press officer for the military commandant's office in the Kursk region, told the media outlet that there were swarms of drones in the area and explosions were happening, with missiles landing directly on the town. He said, "The enemy is dismantling the city floor by floor, block by block, trying to clear the city before the main assault."
He said people holed up in a boarding school and wanted to leave. However, Russia had not agreed to their transportation. Dmytrashkivskyi said, "There are currently approximately 2,000 people there. About 39 people have been killed by air and artillery strikes, and more than 100 have been wounded." Meanwhile, Russian forces had reported advance near Kurakhove town in eastern Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
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