Kiev is strengthening the troops involved in the battle in Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow’s troops are regaining the ground, Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Silsky said on Monday. The move comes ahead of talks between Ukrainians and US officials in Saudi Arabia as President Trump calls for a quick ceasefire in three years Wars launched by Russia.
Ukrainian soldiers launched bold soldiers Attack on the Kursk region of Russia In August, even Western allies were caught off guard, causing an embarrassing blow to the Kremlin. Ukraine hoped to give leverage during future consultations with Moscow by controlling Russian territory. However, recently Ukraine has lost the ground there. Last month they lost two-thirds of the territory they once ruled in Kursk.
“I have decided to strengthen grouping with the necessary forces and means including electronic warfare and unmanned components,” Silsky wrote in a social media post Monday.
Moscow claims it has regained control of many villages, including promoting advances over the last few days. It also claims that it captured a village within Novenke, the Smie region of Ukraine. Novenke is not far from the supply route that is important for Kursk’s Ukrainian forces.
These advances have come in the wake of the president Trump’s decision to pause US military aid and sharing intelligence with Ukraine – a decision the White House has defended as strict, but is necessary to pressure President Voldymir Zelensky to accept a ceasefire Trump imagines.
Silsky on Monday argued that the dynamics of the fighting between the Kursk and Smie regions are “under the control of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.”
He also addressed concerns in Ukrainian media that Ukrainian forces could be surrounded by Russian fighter jets, saying “there is no threat to siege of our forces in the Kursk region at the moment.”
However, he acknowledged that the Ukrainian army has buckled with increased pressure in Russia and must return to a more comfortable position to hold.
“The units are taking timely steps to pilot the advantageous line of defense,” he said.
Haley Ott contributed to this report.
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