Ten Ukrainian tanks destroyed in Kursk Region – Russian MOD
Russian forces have crushed Kiev’s latest attempt to expand its military foothold in the Kursk Region, destroying ten Ukrainian tanks along with several other armored vehicles in a counteroffensive, the Defense Ministry has said.
In a statement on Monday, military officials in Moscow said Russian troops “continue to rout the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ formations in the Kursk Region.”
According to the ministry, the Ukrainian advance focused on the town of Bolshoye Soldatskoye, and Russian forces have destroyed Kiev’s main strike group with the support of the Air Force and artillery.
In the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian military has lost a total 485 troops, ten tanks, seven infantry fighting vehicles, five armored personnel carriers, an artillery gun, an electronic warfare system and multiple other vehicles in Kursk Region, the statement reads.
In a separate briefing on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had launched the assault earlier that day in the hope of “stopping the advance of Russian troops.”
Ukrainian troops crossed into the internationally recognized Russian territory in early August 2024. The leadership in Kiev stated that the incursion was meant to divert Moscow’s forces from elsewhere along the front line. However, Russia’s offensive in Donbass has continued unabated, with the area under Ukrainian control in Kursk Region also shrinking considerably since then.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s estimates, since the start of its operation, Kiev has lost nearly 50,000 servicemen, 273 tanks, 209 infantry fighting vehicles, 153 armored personnel carriers, and hundreds of other pieces of equipment, including 13 US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.
During his end-of-year press conference last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that Ukrainian troops will “undoubtedly” be driven out of Kursk Region.
Putin also called into question the strategic rationale behind Kiev’s surprise offensive, which involves some of its best units – echoing skepticism voiced both by Western backers as well as some officials inside the country.
