Russia said on Friday it had recaptured another village in the Kursk region where it is trying to finally expel Ukrainian troops after nearly eight months of fighting.
However, pro-Moscow military bloggers have expressed concern about the situation in Belgorod, a neighboring Russian region where Ukrainian troops invaded this month.
In Kursk, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had recaptured the village of Gogolevka, one of the few settlements still held by Ukraine out of about 100 it captured last August.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that over the past 24 hours its military stopped 18 attacks by Russian troops in the Kursk region. It did not comment on the situation in Belgorod.
Open source maps from Deep State, a respected Ukrainian military blogger, showed that Russian forces control part but not all of Gogolivka, and also indicated that Kyiv forces still control just under 80 square kilometers of Kursk.
Reuters was unable to verify reports from the battlefield.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk this month, a sign of growing confidence that Russia will soon retake it, denying Ukraine a chance to win future peace talks that the United States is trying to broker.
In Belgorod, Russia first claimed on March 18 that Ukrainian units had attempted to break through the border. As of Friday, several influential Russian military bloggers said Ukrainian groups were maintaining a stronghold inside the region.
One of them, “Arkhangelsk Spetsnaz”, reported that Ukrainian troops were still present in the village of Popovka and fighting was continuing, adding that “the situation remains tense”.
Another, Rybar, reported that there had been violent clashes in Popovka, with each side firing at the other using drones.
A third blog, Two Majors, reported that Russian troops were continuing defensive operations in the region.
“Constant strikes are being carried out on concentrations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but the enemy retains serious offensive potential in this direction and does not abandon plans for further breakthroughs, including in new areas of the front,” Dva Mayora wrote on Telegram.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
