Ukraine has lost more than 40pc of land it captured in Russia’s Kursk

Russia has ‘increased counter-attacks’ after Kyiv’s surprise invasion

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Ukraine has lost more than 40 per cent of the territory in Russia’s Kursk region that it seized in August, a senior Ukrainian military source said.
Russia had deployed 59,000 troops to the region since the surprise invasion by Kyiv’s forces, said the source, who is on Ukraine’s general staff.
“At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometres (531 square miles), now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counter-attacks,” the source said, reported by Reuters.
“Now we control approximately 800 square kilometres (309 square miles). We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.”
The Kursk offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since the Second World War.
Kyiv aimed to stem Russian attacks in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, force Russia to pull back forces gradually advancing in the east and give themselves extra leverage in any future peace negotiations.
But Russian forces have advanced through the Donetsk region over the past two months at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data. They now hold a little under 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory.
This weekend, Russia said its forces had captured the village of Novodmytrivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, their latest gain in what Andrei Belousov, Russia’s defence minister, described as an “accelerated” advance.
“This work we have done here now has crushed the best (Ukrainian) units,” said Mr Belousov, who was filmed handing out medals for bravery while visiting a command post in Ukraine manned by the Russian army.
“Now the advance has accelerated. We have thwarted their entire 2025 campaign.”
Ukraine’s general staff said last night that Novodmytrivka, north of the key town of Kurakhove, was among eight villages where Russian forces were engaged in fighting and trying to advance.
The same briefing also said the front-line area around Kurakhove was gripped by heavy fighting with clashes extending to the town of Pokrovsk to the north, the site of the sole colliery that supplies Ukraine’s steel industry.
Russian forces have reportedly also made gains still farther north near Kupiansk, a rail hub and logistics centre in the Kharkiv region.
The general staff source reiterated to Reuters that about 11,000 North Korean troops had arrived in the Kursk region in support of Russia but the bulk of their forces were still finalising their training.
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