Russia Creates Troop Groups in Border Regions Amid Ukrainian Offensive
Russian Defense Ministry, Moscow. 2024. Photo: X/ @East_Calling
August 20, 2024 Hour: 1:47 pm
Defense Minister Belousov confirmed that Russian troops thwarted Ukrainian attempts to attack four settlements in Kursk.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced that his country has created three troop groups in the border regions as Ukraine continues its offensive there.
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The groups are named after the regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, said Defense Minister Belousov, who added that his country’s troops thwarted Ukrainian attempts to attack four settlements in Kursk and Ukraine lost 350 servicemen and 25 armored vehicles in the Kursk direction over the past day.
Authorities in other Russian border regions have reported attempts by Ukrainian forces to break into their territory, but so far there have been no confirmed successes.
Since the start of the special military operation on 24 February 2024, Russia has created six troop groups: Tsentr (Centre), Zapad (West), Yug (South), Vostok (East), Dnieper and Sever (North). Until now, the northern group had been responsible for the defence of the border regions.
On Tuesday, Russian troops continued their advance in the eastern region of Donetsk, where they liberated the symbolic city of New York, where troops from the Central military group eliminated a large contingent of Ukrainian forces that were in the city.
Russian troops are seeking to head towards the city of Toretsk, whose control would be key to developing the offensive from the south towards Kostiantinivka, a city located just 12 kilometers away and which opens the way to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, Ukraine’s largest strongholds in Donetsk.
Ukraine started a military operation in the Kursk region on Aug. 6. The Ukrainian army has seized more than 1,250 square km of Russian territory and taken control of 92 settlements in Russia’s western Kursk region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday it thwarted Ukrainian attempts to attack four settlements in Kursk and Ukraine lost 350 servicemen and 25 armored vehicles in the Kursk direction over the past day.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: Xinhua – EFE
