Kyiv [Ukraine], January 6 : Ukraine has carried out a counterattack in Russia's Kursk, warning that Moscow is "getting what it deserves", CNN reported.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, an official body, announced that Ukrainian forces had launched surprise attacks against Russian forces in various locations in Kursk, months after conducting its incursion in the region.
In a short post shared on Telegram, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak said, "Kursk region, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves."
The Ukrainian military first conducted an incursion into Kursk in August and has held much of the territory it took, despite efforts made by Russian forces and recently deployed North Korean soldiers to send back Ukrainian troops across the border.
In a statement shared on Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that the Ukrainians had conducted counterattacks to stop a Russian offensive, CNN reported, citing TASS news agency. It said that both had been repelled and added that the Ukrainian assault including two tanks and 12 armoured vehicles was defeated near Berdin village, which is located some 15 kilometers from the border.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, air power had been used against Ukrainian forces in several areas. Subsequently, a blog related to Russia's Northern Group of Forces said that its units were heading ahead, CNN reported. It further said that there were "active hostilities in Sudzha district, the enemy is acting in mobile groups on armoured vehicles, our aviation and artillery are working, small arms battles are going on."
The Kursk offensive at the time of its launch took allies of Russia and Ukraine by surprise. Ukrainian troops advanced quickly, and although, Russia eventually started to push their forces back, the line of control has not changed dramatically in the past few months.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Russian forces lost up to a battalion of North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers in battles near Makhnovka village. A battalion normally comprises several hundred soldiers.
Unofficial Russian military blogs, which often give reliable information on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said that there was fighting happening on Sunday. One said that the Ukrainian forces were pushing north towards Berdin, CNN reported.
One blog on Sunday said, "The enemy has thrown reserves into the offensive in the Kursk region." The blog said, "For the breakthrough, the AFU covered the area with powerful radio-electronic warfare systems, hampering the work of our UAVs (drones)." It said, "There are small arms battles, our artillery and tanks are actively working against the enemy."
A second blog said that the offensive started in the Sudzha area, as per the CNN report. However, Ukrainian paratroopers had also landed and there was intensified fighting in other directions. According to Ukrainian and Western assessments, some 11,000 North Korean troops were deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces occupy swathes of territory after conducting cross-border incursions.
Speaking to CNN, a senior Ukrainian officer said that Russia had started heavy bombardment of Sudzha town which Ukrainians took in August last year.
Speaking to CNN, Colonel Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi, press officer for the military commandant's office in the Kursk region, said that there were swarms of drones in the area and explosions were happening, with missiles landing directly on the town. He said, "The enemy is dismantling the city floor by floor, block by block, trying to clear the city before the main assault."
He said people holed up in a boarding school and wanted to leave. However, Russia had not agreed to their transportation. Dmytrashkivskyi said, "There are currently approximately 2,000 people there. About 39 people have been killed by air and artillery strikes, and more than 100 have been wounded." Meanwhile, Russian forces had reported advance near Kurakhove town in eastern Ukraine.