According to Oleksandr Syrskii, Head of the Ukrainian armed forces, Kyiv has set up a military commander’s office in the occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region.
He told Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video published by the Ukrainian leader that Kyiv’s forces had advanced 35km (22 miles) into Russia’s Kursk region since launching an incursion last week.
“We have taken control of 1,150sq km (444sq miles) of territory and 82 settlements,” Ukraine’s top commander added.
He said that he was appointing Major General Eduard Moskalyov to head the office.
Syrskyi said in a written statement on his Telegram channel that the military office was set up to ensure order and also all the needs of the local population.
Also, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) divulged that Ukrainian special forces have captured more than 100 Russian soldiers during its incursion into Kursk.
The source disclosed that 102 servicemen of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment and its Akhmat unit are the most soldiers to be captured at the same time since the Ukraine war began.
“They captured and cleared a sprawling, concrete and well-fortified company stronghold from all sides – with underground communications and personnel accommodation, a canteen, an armoury and even a bathhouse,” the source said.
The source added that the captured Russian servicemen would eventually be swapped for the Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Russia has claimed its forces have taken control of the village of Ivanivka in eastern Ukraine 16 km (10 miles) from the city of Pokrovsk, which is on an intersection of major roads that supply Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine said there was no sign that Russian military pressure was receding along the eastern front inside its borders on Thursday and reported the heaviest fighting in weeks near Pokrovsk.
Report Says Ukraine May Have Insufficient Ammunition For Offensives In Medium Term
However, a joint report by the offices of Inspectors General of the Pentagon, the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development noted that the amounts of ammunition being supplied by the United States to Ukraine may not allow Kyiv to carry out offensive operations in the medium term.
“The Ukrainian armed forces continued to ask for donations of munitions, while certain types of ammunition that are no longer produced or sourced by the United States have run critically low,” the report read.
The report emphasized that projected ammunition donations are sufficient for near-term objectives but may not support mid-term offensive goals.
It added that the current level of donations for artillery systems will not meet the Ukrainian army’s reconstitution and force generation requirements.
The report stated that between April 1 and June 30, 2024, “the Ukrainian army continued to suffer heavy attrition rates and lack sufficient capabilities and munitions-particularly artillery, air defense, and long-range strike capabilities to overcome Russia’s air and ground advantages.”
“As of June, US munitions began arriving on the front line,” the report noted.
It cited estimates by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) that “this aid almost certainly will remain insufficient to match or overcome Russia’s daily fire rate of 10,000 artillery rounds.”
According to the DIA, Ukraine probably remains capable of continuing defensive operations but not conducting large-scale counteroffensives for at least the next 6 months.
Separately, Jasen Castillo, Co-Director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy noted in an op-ed that the attack on the Kursk Region will seriously harm elite units of the Ukrainian armed forces in the long-term perspective.
“My worry is that in the longer term, Ukraine, which is facing dangerous shortfalls in manpower and equipment, will deplete elite units that would have been needed elsewhere,” the expert said.
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