Russian war bloggers report new Ukrainian attack in Kursk region

Jan 5 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have launched a major new attack in Russia's western Kursk region, Russian military bloggers reported on Sunday.

Ukrainian troops broke across the border in a surprise incursion on Aug. 6, and for the past five months have resisted Russian attempts to expel them.

Reports from the Russian bloggers, who support Moscow's war in Ukraine but have often reported critically on failings and setbacks, indicated that the latest Ukrainian assault had put Russian forces on the defensive.

"Despite strong pressure from the enemy, our units are heroically holding the line," the Operativnye Svodki (Operational Reports) channel said.

It said artillery and small-arms battles were taking place, and Ukraine was using Western-armoured vehicles to bring in large numbers of infantry.

The reports, which Reuters could not independently verify, said fighting was concentrated near the town of Bolshoye Soldatskoye.

But one influential blogger, Yuri Podolyak, said this was most likely a Ukrainian distraction manoeuvre, possibly to prepare a strike on Glushkovo, further west. He recommended civilians there and in another town, Korenevo, to evacuate.

Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia's ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow's...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]