More Ukrainian Brigades Roll Into Russia’s Kursk Oblast As Ukrainian Artillery Blocks Russian Reinforcements
David Axe | Aug 9, 2024 | 05:38pm EDTFour days into Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, just across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia, the number of confirmed Ukrainian brigades in and around the invasion zone has grown to at least five: four army mechanized brigades and one brigade from the independent air assault force.
Altogether, these units could oversee as many as 10,000 troops and 600 armored vehicles. Additional artillery, air-defense, drone and reconnaissance units are playing critical supporting roles.
To put into perspective the scale of the Ukrainian force in and around Kursk, recall that Kyiv formed a corps with a dozen new brigades to lead its southern counteroffensive in the summer of 2023.
So far, the Kursk corps is less than half the size of the counteroffensive corps. But it appears to be growing as analysts scour social media, scrutinize official media releases and verify the presence of additional brigades.
In four days, the five brigades have partially or fully occupied around 400 square miles of Kursk Oblast and captured scores of Russian troops. While it’s still possible the brigades don’t intend to stay in Russia, there are currently no signs of them slowing their attacks.
“We can only hope that Ukraine has a well-prepared plan and that this operation translates into more than just a significant PR victory with positive political implications,” mused Artur Rehi, an Estonian soldier and analyst. . . .
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/08/09/more-ukrainian-brigades-roll-into-russias-kursk-oblast-as-ukrainian-artillery-blocks-russian-reinforcements/