Ukraine has launched a surprise counteroffensive inside Russia, forcing Vladimir Putin to dispatch one of his top generals to the front line.
Russian military bloggers first reported attacks by Ukrainian tanks and infantry on positions in Kursk shortly after dawn on Sunday.
They said that Ukrainian forces were attacking towards the village of Bolshoye Soldatskoye, 15 miles north-east of Sudzha, the Ukrainian stronghold in the region.
“The enemy is driving forward with tanks and armoured personnel carriers full of soldiers,” the Archangel of Spetsnaz Z, told its 1.15 million subscribers on Telegram.
Both Ukrainian and Russian officials later also confirmed the attacks, likely launched to strengthen Kyiv’s position ahead of potential peace talks.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that its forces were “defeating” Ukrainian military formations in Kursk but Andrii Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said that the attacks had scared and worried Russian forces.
“From the Kursk region, good news. Russia is getting what it deserves,” he said.
The head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, also said the Russians “were attacked from several directions. It was a surprise for them”.
But reports from Kursk detailed Russian resistance and described a series of fierce, and at times, confused battles. Pro-Russia Telegrams also circulated video of an alleged Russian drone strike destroying a Ukrainian-operated British Challenger 2 tank. The claim could not be independently verified.
WarGonzo, a Russian blogging Telegram channel, said that the attack appeared to have been carefully planned because Ukraine had built up a counteroffensive force based on Nato equipment over November and December in neighbouring regions.