Ukrainian Forces strike Russian command center in Kursk Region
On Thursday, January 2, Ukrainian Armed Forces reportedly launched an attack on what is claimed to be a Russian military command post in Mar'ino village, located in Russia’s Kursk region.
"These strikes are aimed primarily at reducing the Russian Federation’s capability and desire to conduct terrorist acts against the civilian population of Ukraine," said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Additionally, Sergey Bratchuk, a representative of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army South, reported a strike on the nearby village of Ivanovskoye, which he claimed housed soldiers from Russia's 810th Marine Brigade. Director of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security Council, Andriy Kovalenko, spoke of "significant losses suffered by Russia’s 810th Brigade" due to the attack.
Acting Governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, reported that the attack on Ivanovskoye damaged civilian infrastructure, including a cultural center. The strike also led to shrapnel damage, shattering windows in a boarding school, post office, and shopping center. Khinshtein added, "a minor rupture occurred in one section of a gas pipeline."
On August 6, 2024, Ukrainian forces crossed the Russia-Ukraine border and commenced military operations in Kursk. Reports suggest that during the offensive, Ukrainian forces occupied several dozen settlements, including the city of Sudzha. In recent months, Russian troops reclaimed parts of the Kursk region yet have not fully pushed Ukrainian forces back across the Russia-Ukraine border.