Russia Retakes 2 Villages in Contested Kursk Region

Russian forces have retaken two villages in Kursk near the border with Ukraine following heavy fighting over the past month.
“Our entire front has moved forward,” said Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, adding that Russian forces were also advancing in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine launched its offensive into Kursk in early August, keeping the operation and its purpose a secret even from allies such as the United States. The offensive was the largest incursion into Russian territory since World War II.
That state of affairs has begun to change, with Russia launching a major counteroffensive earlier this month.
The two villages seized by Russia are about nine miles from the former front lines established by Ukrainian forces in August and could give Russia a position from which to attack Sverdlikovo, where Ukrainian forces have staged a logistical center for the operation.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military acknowledged that Russia had launched 34 attacks in the eastern parts of Ukraine but did not confirm the capture of Ukrainsk.
Russia’s new momentum could turn the tide against Ukraine in a larger way, as Western intelligence leaders have characterized the Kursk incursion as a gambit that could undermine the assumptions of leaders in either Russia or Ukraine, depending on the outcome of the operation.