Ukrainian army launches new surprise offensive within russiaAs Kiev’s counter-invasion passes the five-month mark this week, their salient in Kursk expands to the north and east.

Geolocation video showed Ukrainian troops advancing from the Souza base toward Beldin, seizing fields and entering the settlement on Sunday.

By Monday, Ukrainian troops had also captured the Russian settlements of Polechnoye and Novosotnitsky. All three settlements are located on the main road between Sudja and the regional capital Kursk.

Russian military blogs said Ukrainian troops also captured settlements in Martynovka, Cherkaskoye Polechnoye and Mikhailovka.

According to Russian blogs, the Ukrainian army reportedly used company-sized attacks, supported by armored vehicles, to advance in three waves.

One reason for their success appears to be the effective use of electronic warfare.

“Our drones are helpless because the enemy’s electronic warfare has pinned them to the ground,” one reporter wrote.

Ukrainian forces also appear to be using the High Mobility Army Rocket System (HIMARS) to block Russian reinforcements.

“As in August, the enemy is actively using HIMARS strikes to cover up his offensive operations,” a Russian journalist wrote. “He is trying to eliminate our suitable reserves, artillery and drone operators.”

According to reports, an explosion occurred at an aviation technology base in Kursk, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled areas. The Kursk Military Operations Headquarters claimed to have downed more than one Ukrainian missile, suggesting that other missiles were successfully shot down.

“Reports that Ukrainian forces are using long-range firepower to block Russian rear lines and electronic warfare to destroy Russian drones in support of Ukraine’s mechanization advances suggest that Ukrainian forces operating in Kursk are Employing More Effective Combined Arms Tactics ” of War, a Washington-based think tank.

In addition to missiles, Ukraine also uses long-range drones of its own manufacture to attack Russian energy assets. A Ukrainian drone struck a condensate transshipment terminal at the port of Ust-Luga near Leningrad on Saturday, causing a fire.

Ukrainian officials cited a number of reasons for countering the invasion, chief among them the capture of tens of thousands of Russian military personnel who would otherwise attack Ukrainian territory.

“The Russians have deployed strong troops to the Kursk region. Soldiers from North Korea are involved. The important thing is that the occupiers are currently unable to move all these troops to other directions, especially Donetsk, Sumy, Kazakhstan Erkov or Zaporozhye regions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech on Monday evening.

“Since the beginning of the Kursk operation, the enemy has lost more than 38,000 soldiers in this area alone, about 15,000 of them irrecoverable,” he said.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces published a list of Russian equipment destroyed in Kursk, which included 104 tanks, 575 armored fighting vehicles, more than 1,000 other vehicles and 330 artillery systems.

Ukraine also said it captured 860 Russians in Kursk and exchanged them for its own prisoners of war.

Are the Russians running out of tanks?

Russia has been able to replace soldierbut its ability to replace equipment is less certain.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimates that Ukrainian forces destroyed 3,689 Russian tanks, 8,956 armored fighting vehicles and more than 13,000 artillery pieces in 2024. The Ukrainian navy claimed to have sunk 5 ships and 458 small craft.

Russia has been removing Soviet armor from its inventory and refurbishing it for combat use. It’s unclear how long this can continue.

A Russian hardware monitor estimated Russia has about 48 percent of its tanks left, and a similar proportion of its armored fighting vehicles, but satellite photos show a large proportion of them are in poor condition and unusable.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated a year ago that Russia’s armored forces had two to three years of life left.

Continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian positions over the past week have also raised questions about Russian armor.

Russian forces have concentrated most of their manpower and firepower on the two settlements of Pokrovsk and Mirnohrad in Donetsk, launching on Friday along a front 45 kilometers (30 miles) to the south. 26 attacks.

“Heavy fighting continues across the entire front, with the hottest spots near Pokrovsk,” Zelensky said in a speech late Saturday.

On Tuesday, there were 176 fighting incidents across the front line, 41 of which took place in the region.

At the closest point, Russian army positions are just 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from Pokrovsk, where 7,300 civilians reportedly still live and work.

“The intensity of the battle changed and became more intense. Now, opposite us, there was an independent motorized infantry brigade and a motorized infantry regiment of the Russian Federation,” said the 25th fighting in the Pokrovsk region Sergey Okishev, sergeant of the independent airborne brigade, said during the telethon.

However, he noted that the Russian military is using fewer armored vehicles and more off-road vehicles, golf carts and civilian vehicles. It is unclear whether this is due to a lack of armor or mobility in the Russian arsenal.

Kulakhov’s Ukrainian army spokesman similarly said on Friday that “over the past few weeks the Russians have switched to using only infantry for attacks and, if armored vehicles are used, only for fire support and they themselves will not participate in the attack.” “

“The Russians keep their armored vehicles as much as possible because they are very afraid of our anti-tank missile systems,” he said.

Ukraine invests in long-range unmanned systems

Ukraine has invested heavily in its defense industry over the past year, especially in various unmanned systems and is developing innovative strategies.

Ukraine’s military intelligence told Ukrainian news outlet TSN on Monday that its Magura V maritime drone shot down not one but two Russian Mi8 helicopters in the Black Sea on December 31.

The attack occurred near Cape Talhankut, 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Sevastopol.

Military Intelligence Unit 13, which operates the Magura surface drones, set traps for Russian aviation. Once the naval drones were discovered, Russian aviation immediately discovered and destroyed them. “In this special operation, we did not undertake the task of evading aviation as usual. We specifically went to find air targets.” A source who did not want to be named said.

Commander-in-Chief Alexander Silsky said the armed forces are “increasing the number of brigades with reinforced unmanned units” and creating a separate brigade for unmanned systems.

“In total, combat personnel of the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit more than 54,000 enemy targets in December. Nearly half (49%) of this result was provided by kamikaze drones,” he said on social the media wrote.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmir announced on Friday that Ukraine plans to build about 3,000 cruise missiles and drone missiles this year, as well as at least 30,000 long-range drones.

“As part of the ‘Victory Weapons’ project, we will sign long-term contracts with manufacturers for 3-5 years. We will pay special attention to long-range components and missile programs,” Shmir said.

The drone and missile projects are part of a plan to increase Ukraine’s defense industry capabilities to about $30 billion from an estimated $7 billion in 2024.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to end the war this year, raising the possibility of a freeze on the conflict on current fronts.

Asked whether it was prepared to host a multinational force of European peacekeepers in Ukraine, Zelensky praised France for raising the possibility but clarified that it should be part of Ukraine’s NATO accession agreement.

“It should absolutely be on the path to NATO. This does not mean that the deployment of European troops excludes the future of NATO,” Zelensky said. “I see Trump being positive about the idea.”