With its new attack in Kursk Oblast, Ukraine has demonstrated Russia's inability to recapture the region, said Col. Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Intelligence Center. The EDF colonel also noted however,

Russia said on Monday its forces had made important gains in eastern Ukraine while continuing to fend off a new Ukrainian offensive inside the Kursk region of western Russia, where a second day of fierce fighting was under way.

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.