Yesterday at 19:58
As previously reported, after the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, Russia withdrew approximately 5,000 troops from Ukraine.
However, this is not enough to regain control of the territory, the source said: more than 20,000 well-trained soldiers would be needed to force the Ukrainian military to leave Russian territory, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Russian command has withdrawn several incomplete brigades from Ukraine, the WSJ source said. One brigade was withdrawn from Donetsk region, where Russia is advancing most actively, while others were withdrawn from areas that are less important to Moscow.
Ukraine, in turn, has sent up to 6,000 troops to the Kursk region, the WSJ writes, citing Western military estimates.
Another 4,000 troops have been sent to Sumy region, which borders Russia, to perform auxiliary tasks.
To avoid weakening the front, a large part of the Ukrainian forces were transferred from the reserve that Ukraine, with Western support, was building up for future operations, a source familiar with the operation told the WSJ.
Ukraine began preparing the operation in the Kursk region in early summer, the newspaper writes. Then drones attacked the infrastructure of the Kursk region – power grids, warehouses and surveillance facilities. At the same time, Russian units, which are howling on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the support of Ukrainian intelligence, conducted raids across the border in search of weaknesses in the defense, the WSJ writes.
Two weeks before the operation, Ukrainian UAVs destroyed surveillance systems at a Russian border post.
On the first day of the attack, electronic warfare units entered Russian territory before other units, the newspaper writes. Thanks to this tactic, which helped protect the military’s offensive, the invasion looked like a reconnaissance operation, the WSJ notes.
The American Forbes previously estimated the number of Ukrainian troops at 15,000. In response to the attack, Russia began to send reinforcements to the Kursk region, but they are partly conscripts, CNN wrote.
Videos published by the Russian Defense Ministry show that reinforcements were sent to Kursk region from Belgorod and Donetsk regions.
