Russia Claims Early Success as Major Counteroffensive in Kursk Region Begins

The Rybar Telegram channel, which allegedly has close ties to Russia’s Army General Staff, reported late on Sept. 10 the start of Moscow’s counteroffensive in the Korenevsky district in the Kursk Oblast and reported clashes in several settlements including Gordeevka and Vnezapnoe on the western edge of the area occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

A second pro-Kremlin milblogger, Dva Mayora reported that Russia had deployed elite units from the 51st Parachute Regiment and the 155th Marine Brigade in support of the offensive. It is claimed that Russian troops were advancing near the villages of Byakhovo, Snagost and Apanasovka and posted video that allegedly showed footage of the capture of nine Ukrainians near Snagost. He claimed that fighting was ongoing in the town of Viktorovka.

Other pro-Russian channels, including the Sever group, Zapiski Veterana and MASH reported several settlements had been “liberated” by the Russian forces with claims that up to 150 square kilometers (58 square miles) had been recaptured.

While the claims are currently impossible to verify, the Ukrainian open-source intelligence (OSINT) channel DeepState seemed to partially confirm that Moscow’s forces had begun a counteroffensive saying that “the situation on the left flank of the AFU group in the Kursk region has worsened.”

DeepState published footage of a Russian armored column that it said had been transported across the main Seym River and smaller tributaries in the Glushkovsky District. It also reported that Russian forces, having taken Korenevo after the AFU withdrew, were moving in the direction of Snagost.

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Military analyst Yan Matveyev suggested that the main goal of the Russians is to release its forces that are currently blocked in the Glushkovsky district and then attempt to cut off Ukrainian logistics routes. He argues that the AFU defenses in these areas are strong and if Moscow’s offensive fails then they will have more forces trapped between the Seym river and the border.

The Ukrainian milblogger “Resident” argues that the location and the timing of the counteroffensive is not surprising and claims that Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky had warned President Volodymyr Zelensky that the recent transfer of reserves from the Kursk front to bolster the defense of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk sector would favor the Russian forces who had now massed up to 40,000 troops in the Kursk sector army. Syrsky is alleged to have said that this would threaten his forces on both fronts.