The attack is Kyiv’s latest bid to regain momentum in the Russian territory, which could strengthen its bargaining position in a cease-fire negotiation.
Ukraine is launching a new offensive into Russia’s Kursk region as it struggles to fend off Moscow’s advances in its own southeastern territories.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the new assaults into Kursk during a Feb. 7 address, saying that a “significant number” of Russian troops were killed.
Zelenskyy said hundreds of Russian units were destroyed, but it was unclear whether the number referred to vehicles destroyed or soldiers killed or injured.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on Feb. 8 that it repelled a Ukrainian counterattack in the Kursk region but remained engaged in an effort to destroy them.
According to that statement, the Ukrainian elements involved in the new offensive included armor, cavalry, airborne, infantry, and reserve units from Ukraine’s territorial defense force.
Kyiv’s gambit in Kursk comes as Russian forces make inroads toward the strategically vital city of Pokrovsk in southeastern Ukraine, which may suggest that Moscow is attempting a pincer movement to surround and besiege the city.
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Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Pokrovsk and nearby Chasiv Yar. Pokrovsk is a key logistical hub that furnishes supplies to much of the front lines, and Chasiv Yar sits atop a strategic hilltop.
Moscow claimed on Jan. 31 that its forces captured the village of Novovasylivka and stated on Feb. 1 that its troops had also taken control of the suburb of Krymske—both in the eastern Donetsk region.
The fall of one or both of the cities could allow Russian forces to solidify their grip on Donetsk as a whole and possibly allow Moscow to launch a new major offensive into neighboring Dnipro in central Ukraine.
Kyiv has nevertheless persisted in trying to rekindle its offensive into Kursk, which it first seized in a surprise attack in August 2024. The new assault suggests that the embattled nation is trying to regain momentum to solidify and expand its gains in Russian territory even as pressure mounts against its homeland elsewhere.
Ukraine is likely putting a premium on maintaining or expanding its control of Russian territory ahead of a potential cease-fire negotiation in which it would be able to trade back occupied Kursk for some occupied territories of its own.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have begun to pursue riskier tactics in order to secure key battlefield gains ahead of a potential settlement, which grows increasingly likely as U.S. President Donald Trump pressures Moscow and Kyiv toward a cease-fire deal.
As such, Zelenskyy said on Feb. 7 that he is open to a deal granting the United States access to Ukraine’s vast rare earth and critical mineral deposits in exchange for continued military aid and is willing to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin so long as Western allies guaranteed Ukraine’s security during the process.
“If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal; we are only for it,” Zelenskyy said during a Feb. 7 interview in Kyiv, stressing that Ukraine would require security guarantees from its allies as part of any agreement on supplies of critical minerals and rare earths.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
