In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict, Russian forces have dealt a severe blow to Ukraine’s military capabilities, according to the latest reports from Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that Ukraine has sustained approximately 11,400 casualties since its incursion into the Kursk region.
The Russian military reported the destruction of 89 Ukrainian tanks in just one day, highlighting the scale of the ongoing battles and the significant losses suffered by Ukrainian forces. The high casualty figures and extensive destruction of military hardware reflect the intense and high-stakes nature of the conflict, with both sides engaged in a protracted and costly struggle over key territories.
As the situation continues to evolve, these developments mark a critical juncture in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with significant implications for the military dynamics and overall strategy in the region.
Russian forces are now fighting back Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk, more than a month after Kyiv’s troops stunned Vladimir Putin and seized a large swathe of the Russian region.
The counterattack started along Kursk’s western edge, allowing Russia’s more combat-experienced troops to reportedly take back several settlements in the past 48 hours, the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said.
Major General Apti Alaudinov, who commands Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces fighting in Kursk, said that Russian troops had gone on the offensive and taken back control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, TASS reported.
“The situation is good for us,” said Alaudinov, who is also deputy head of the Russian defense ministry’s military-political department.
“A total of about 10 settlements in the Kursk region have been liberated,” he said.
Last week, Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces controlled 100 settlements in Kursk over an area of more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles), a figure disputed by Russian sources.
Ukrainian forces are fighting back, and have initiated new attacks of their own, the ISW said.
The update from Kursk comes as the US and the UK pledged nearly $1.5bn for Ukraine in humanitarian aid, assistance and loan guarantees during talks in Kyiv, but could not clear the use of long-range missile strikes inside Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading with Kyiv’s allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles, including long-range US ATACMS and British Storm Shadows, deep into Russian territory to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.
Russia launches another massive strike on Ukraine’s power grid
Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in six regions in the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry said via Telegram that the attacks had temporarily disrupted the work of power substations in at least three of these regions.
Russian drones inflicted significant damage to the northern Ukrainian town of Konotop’s energy infrastructure in an overnight attack that injured at least 14 people and cut electricity to the settlement, local officials said.
Rescuers were working to restore power in the town, which had a pre-war population of about 83,000. Regional officials said there had been 10 explosions during the attack and Mayor Artem Semenikhin said the power system was in critical condition.
“At the moment, energy workers are doing everything they can to provide electricity to the hospital and the water supply system,” he said in the early hours of Thursday. “Hospitals continue to operate.”
EU at UN Security Council: Ukraine has lost up to 80% of its pre-war thermal electricity production capacity
On 10 September, the Head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations, Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, speaking in New York at the UN Security Council on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security, repeated the EU’s call on Russia to immediately halt its illegal war of aggression, including its unrelenting air strikes against Ukraine’s civilians and civilian and critical infrastructure.
On 26 August, Russia launched an unprecedented number of 236 missiles and drones. On 3 September, at least 55 people were killed and 328 injured in Poltava alone.
“It has hit residential buildings, hospitals, schools, power plants and playgrounds. This is unacceptable under any circumstances. Ukraine has lost up to 80% of its pre-war thermal electricity production capacity. It is clear Russia is attempting to pile the pressure on the Ukrainian people ahead of a cold winter,” Lambrinidis said.
He said the EU is “very concerned” by the recent reports indicating that Iran has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and called upon all countries, including the DPRK and Belarus, to refrain from any actions that may amount to complicity in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Lambrinidis also highlighted the fact that Russia has cut off an estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians from humanitarian aid, and called on Moscow to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law in the territories it temporarily occupies. “While it wages a war of aggression, Russia shows no concern for the welfare of civilians in the areas it temporarily occupies,” Lambrinidis told the UN Security Council.
UK to provide £600 million in support for Ukraine
British foreign secretary David Lammy has announced that Britain will provide a further £600 million of support for Ukraine as he visited Kyiv with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The British government said it would provide £242 million of funding, including for humanitarian needs, and £484 million in loan guarantees for World Bank lending to Ukraine before the end of the year.
Compiled by Ana Dumbadze
