Ukraine has launched a new offensive in the Kursk region of Russia

Ukraine has launched a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.

The military said in a statement that efforts to destroy Ukrainian strike groups are ongoing. Ukrainian officials also suggested that an operation was underway.

Ukraine first invaded Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing a large chunk of territory.

In recent months, Russian troops have made great strides in the area, pushing back the Ukrainians, but failing to drive them out completely.

The message of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, published on Telegram on Sunday, says: “At around 9 o’clock in the morning Moscow time, in order to stop the advance of Russian troops in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counterattack with an amphibious assault unit consisting of two tanks, 1 anti-tank vehicle and 12 armored combat vehicles. machines”.

The head of the administration of the President of Ukraine, Andrei Yermak, said that “good news is coming from the Kursk region” and that Russia “is getting what it deserves.”

This was stated by the head of the Ukrainian Department for Combating Disinformation, Andrey Kavalenko Telegram message on Sunday: “The Russians in Kursk are very alarmed because they have been attacked from several sides and this has come as a surprise to them.”

It is not yet clear whether the offensive is large enough to lead to significant changes on the front line.

Kiev’s forces have reportedly been short on manpower and have been losing ground in eastern Ukraine in recent months as Russian forces advance.

This happened after the Ukrainian Air Force said that Russia launched another drone attack on Ukraine overnight.

It says that 61 drones were shot down over Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytskyi regions.

There were no direct hits, but several houses in the Kharkiv region were damaged by the intercepted drone, the Air Force reported.

In November, Ukraine reported that its troops engaged in battle with North Korean troops in the Kursk region.

The appearance of North Korean soldiers was a response to a surprise attack launched across the border by Ukrainian troops in August, which advanced up to 18 miles (30 km) deep into Russian territory.

Moscow evacuated nearly 200,000 people from areas along the border, and President Vladimir Putin condemned the Ukrainian offensive as a “major provocation.”

Two weeks later, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine announced that he controlled more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory and 93 villages.

Part of this territory was returned by Russia, but Ukraine still has troops in the Kursk region.