Russia estimates Ukrainian losses in Kursk incursion
Ukrainian forces numbering 300 soldiers and 30 armored vehicles crossed into Russia’s Kursk Region on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said. Half of the enemy armor has been destroyed so far, according to the ministry.
The attack took place in the morning local time in the area of Nikolayevo-Daryino and Oleshnya, along the Russia-Ukraine border, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Ukrainian forces launched artillery and drone strikes before attacking with up to 300 troops of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade, supported by 11 tanks and 20 other armored vehicles.
“Operational-tactical and attack aviation carried out strikes on concentrations of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and equipment in the areas of Basovka, Zhuravka, Khoten, Yunakovka, Belovody, Khrapovshchina in Sumy Region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
As a result of air and artillery strikes, Ukrainian forces lost six tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, four armored personnel carriers, three armored cars and a mine-clearing engineering vehicle, according to Moscow.
Earlier, unconfirmed reports in local media spoke of at least 20 Ukrainian casualties in the incursion.
At least two Russian civilians were killed in Ukrainian artillery and drone strikes, Acting Governor Aleksey Smirnov said on Telegram. More than a dozen civilians were injured, including four children.
Most of the civilian casualties and property damage were in the town of Sudzha, an important junction on the Druzhba oil and gas pipeline from Russia to central Europe.
