Kursk invasion map shows Ukrainian forces advancing into new positions

A new map shows Ukraine has made advances in several locations in Russia’s Kursk region, as Moscow struggles to halt Kyiv’s advance nearly two weeks after it began.

A Russian source reported on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had taken control of the villages of Abanaskovka and Byakhovo, according to the U.S.-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War. The settlements are located south of Korenovo, a Russian border town that has been the scene of heavy fighting for more than a week and a half.

Geo-tagged footage also showed Kyiv’s forces advancing southwest of the settlement of Russkoye Porechnoye, the think tank noted in its latest map of the offensive across the Ukrainian border.

Newsweek I reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment via email.

Thousands of Ukrainian troops crossed into Kursk earlier this month, making the biggest advance into Russian territory since the start of the full-scale war nearly two and a half years ago.

Moscow has struggled to respond as Kyiv’s fighters have advanced rapidly, with areas around the towns of Sudzha and Korynevo among the first targets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that Kyiv had taken control of Sudzha, adding that Ukraine was gaining ground in the area.

“The process is going exactly as we expected,” Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday. “Now we are strengthening our positions. The foothold of our presence is getting stronger.”

Senior Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that their forces, as part of an “anti-terrorist operation” led by the FSB, have halted Ukrainian gains. This narrative has been contradicted by a number of influential Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian sources, and Western analysis, as Moscow has moved reinforcements to the border.

A prominent Russian military blogger said on Sunday that Moscow had “transferred reserves there and brought in some of the most experienced units from other parts of the front.” On Saturday, the account described “heavy fighting” in Kursk, where Ukraine had brought in “fresh reserves.”

The Belgorod region adjacent to Kursk declared a federal state of emergency on Thursday, and Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry recently said thousands of people were leaving Kursk every day.

The War Research Foundation estimated on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces had reached a depth of 28 kilometers (17.4 miles) inside Kursk, an area about 56 kilometers wide. However, the area that Ukraine is trying to consolidate may be smaller than that, according to the think tank.

Ukraine has said it does not want to hold onto the territory it controls in Kursk, but hopes to cut off Russian logistical support that supports the war effort elsewhere along the front line and protect its territory from highly destructive air attacks.

Ukraine’s air force said Sunday it had destroyed a second bridge in Kursk, strengthening Ukraine’s grip on Russian logistics.

A Russian channel on Telegram attributed the attack on the bridge in the village of Zvanoye in Kursk to US-made high-mobility artillery rocket systems. “There is only one bridge left in the area,” the account wrote on Sunday.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs He said on Friday Ukraine “completely destroyed” another bridge over the Seim River near the Kursk border village of Glushkovo “with Western-made weapons, probably American HIMARS missiles.”

Earlier this week, Russian regional authorities issued an evacuation order for the Glushkovo area, southwest of Korenovo. “The logistical situation continues to deteriorate” around Glushkovo, one Russian military blogger said Saturday, with “Ukraine hitting the remaining bridges across the Seim River, but the Russian military has already started building pontoon crossings.”

The attack on Kursk came after months of slow but steady Russian gains in eastern Ukraine, after it captured the strategic town of Avdiivka in Donetsk and continued its advance westward toward Pokrovsk. The city is a key link in Ukraine’s eastern defense chain and a vital logistics hub.

The Kursk push appeared to be a boon for Ukrainian morale, overshadowing Russia’s steady gains. Zelensky said Saturday that Russian forces had attacked Ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk and Toretsk, another heavily bombarded city in Donetsk, “dozens” of times in the past 24 hours.

The Institute for the Study of War said that advancing toward Pokrovsk, while Russia is fighting its incursion at Kursk, would put “greater pressure” on Russia and could affect Moscow’s ability to keep up pressure on Ukraine along hundreds of miles of front lines.