Russian troops have strengthened counterattacks in the Kursk region.
This is reported by URA-Inform with reference to ISW.
Analysts at the US Institute for the Study of War noted that they are trying to push out Ukrainian forces before worsening weather conditions limit their maneuvers on the battlefield. They cite reports from Russian military bloggers about intensified attacks and the alleged advance of Russians near a number of settlements in the Kursk region.
At the same time, ISW noted that they have not seen any confirmation of the claims about the alleged advance of Russians in the Sudzhansky district, or the alleged expulsion of Ukrainian forces from most of the Glushkovsky district on October 10 and 11, or the alleged encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the Korenevsky district of the Kursk region.
“The intensified Russian counterattacks are likely intended to push Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region before poor weather conditions begin to limit their maneuvers on the battlefield. Ukrainian officials have previously noted that Russian forces are stepping up offensive operations in Ukraine, especially mechanized offensives, to take advantage of dry roads and terrain before the rainy season turns the soil waterlogged. It is likely that this Russian operational calculation also applies to Russian efforts to retake the entire Kursk region,” — the analysts' report said.
They predict that Russian military commanders are concerned that poor weather conditions in the fall of 2024 and early winter of 2024-2025 will encourage positional fighting in the Kursk region and give Ukrainian forces more time to better entrench their positions.
“Better-entrenched Ukrainian forces with a more extensive fortification network in the Kursk region are likely to further complicate Russia's efforts to push Ukrainian forces back across the border. Russian forces may sense that the window of opportunity to push Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region with the level of manpower and equipment the Russians have committed to doing so is closing,” — noted in ISW.
Recall that it was previously reported whether Putin is ready to talk to Scholz about the war in Ukraine: a statement from the German Foreign Ministry.