Ukraine has lost over 40% of its territory in Kursk after Russian counterattack

Her has lost over 40% of the territory she occupied in the Kursk area in the surprise invasion in August. A high-ranking source of the General Staff of the army in Ukraine revealed that Russia deployed 59,000 soldiers in the Kursk region following the penetration and rapid advance of Ukrainian forces, who caught Moscow unprepared. “At the peak, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers, now of course the area is smaller. The enemy is intensifying counterattacks. Now we control about 800 square kilometers. We will keep these territories for as long as it is considered appropriate from a military point of view,” said the source Reuters. With the invasion of Kursk, Kiev hoped that Russian attacks would cease in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, that it would force Russia to withdraw forces that were slowly advancing to the eastern front and gain greater support in any future peace negotiations. But Russian forces are still continuing their promotion to the eastern district of Donetsk. Ukraine’s president Volontimir Zelensky said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main goals were to take over the entire Donbass (which consists of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk) and to oust Ukrainian forces from Kursk. “I’m sure he wants to push us back by January 20th,” he told reporters. “It is very important (for Putin) to show that he controls the situation,” he added. On 20 January 2025 Donald Trump will be sworn in as new president of the U.S. The source of the General Staff also reiterated that about 11,000 North Korean soldiers have arrived in the Kursk area to support the Russians but most of them still have not completed their training. The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a Reuters agency request for a comment. The agency was unable to verify from independent sources the data or descriptions of this Ukrainian source. According to the source, however, the biggest threat to Ukraine is currently in the Kurahove region, where Russian forces are promoted by 200-300 metres daily and have managed to break down Ukrainian defence at certain points. The city of Kurahove is only a short distance from Pokrovsk, a curatorial hub in the Donetsk area. Today, Russia has developed some 575,000 soldiers in Ukraine and plans to increase them to 690,000, it also supported. The same source said the Ukrainian army is taking steps to strengthen anti-aircraft defence in Kiev and makes similar plans for Sumi in the north and Kharkiv in the northeast.