As U.S. Halts Military Aid, Ukraine on the Verge of Losing Kursk

Left without American military aid, a Ukrainian logistics center in Kursk, a region of Russia it has occupied since late last year, was destroyed in Russian bombings on Friday besides other  infrastructure and military targets.

10,000 Ukrainian troops encircled, 660 dead

Some 10,000 of Kyiv’s troops face encirclement in Kursk, Ukrainian media reported while the Russian MoD announced that 660 Ukrainian troops are killed since the beginning of the week.

Russian forces have made a breakthrough south of the Ukrainian-held town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast. The Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState has confirmed a push deep into Ukrainian positions toward the Ukrainian state border in Sumy Oblast.

An unnamed Ukrainian soldier told Kyiv Independent that his fellow soldiers face the threat of encirclement and would like to withdraw. All bridges in the vicinity of Sudzha have been destroyed, and Ukrainian troops are cut off from ammunition and fuel supplies.

Ukraine to lose bargaining chip

Ukraine’s capture of large parts of the Kursk region in mid-2024 was hailed by western media as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations with Russia where the latter would be forced to give up captured Ukrainian territories of DPR, LPR and Crimea in exchange for Kursk.

Meanwhile, Russian forces are advancing in the Kursk direction, having broken through the enemy's defenses between the settlements of Guevo and Kurilovka south of Sudzha. Russian paratroopers are moving toward the state border, intending to block the supply route of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

At the same time, Russian Forces are occupying territory on the approaches to Basovka. There are about 12 km left before the encirclement of the enemy group and the connection of Russian units - the neck of the cauldron is gradually narrowing, Russian media reported.

Russian strategy:

The Kremlin’s strategy seems to be to capture as much territory as possible before U.S.- led peace negotiations begin. It has already ruled out giving up on the DRP and LPR, the territory of Ukraine it  captured over the past 2 years and the Crimean Peninsula before that.

Russian TU-95MS, MiG-31 bombers launch massive assault:

At least 10 Tu-95MS bombers besides MiG-31I Kinzhal missile carriers were also involved launched a massive air assault on Ukraian cities and regions of Kharkiv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, as well as in Poltava, Khmelnytsky and Vinnytsia Oblasts.