The Russian Defence Ministry has announced it is deploying additional weapons and equipment to the Kursk Region where its forces are actively engaged with Ukrainian troops who launched an incursion into the area earlier this week. In a statement, the defence ministry revealed footage of the equipment being transported across the region as reinforcements, including multiple launch rocket systems (BM-21 Grad), towed artillery pieces, tanks, heavy tracked vehicles, Ural and KamAZ vehicles among others.
This new equipment will be deployed against Ukrainian formations operating in the Sudzhansky district of Kursk Region which appears to have been the primary target of Kiev’s forces. The attack was launched by Ukraine on Tuesday morning with up to 1,000 troops reportedly crossing into Russian territory, supported by Western supplied tanks and armored personnel carriers according to reports from Moscow.
Ukrainian leadership has stated that their primary objective for the operation was to instill fear in the hearts of the Russian population. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also claimed that the application of “just force” would bring a “just peace” with Russia closer. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin labelled the cross-border attack as a “large scale provocation”, accusing Kiev of “indiscriminately” targeting civilians, residential buildings and ambulances. At least five civilians have reportedly been killed so far in the attack with 21 more injured including six children according to local officials.
As the situation continues to unfold, Russian forces have continued to inflict heavy casualties on the invading Ukrainian troops. Kiev has lost up to 945 soldiers as well as 102 armored vehicles in the attack so far, including 12 tanks and 17 armoured personnel carriers according to an update by the Russian Defence Ministry on Friday.
On Wednesday, Valery Gerasimov, chief of Moscow’s General Staff, reported that the Ukrainian incursion had been halted by the Russian military and that operations were underway to expel the invaders from Russian territory.