{"id":259150,"date":"2025-03-14T16:11:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T16:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/14\/as-russia-tries-to-push-ukraine-out-of-kursk-heres-what-to-know-2\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T16:11:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T16:11:32","slug":"as-russia-tries-to-push-ukraine-out-of-kursk-heres-what-to-know-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/14\/as-russia-tries-to-push-ukraine-out-of-kursk-heres-what-to-know-2\/","title":{"rendered":"As Russia Tries to Push Ukraine Out of Kursk, Here\u2019s What to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/13\/multimedia\/13russia-ukraine-kursk-explainer-jvzf\/13russia-ukraine-kursk-explainer-jvzf-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Russia Tries to Push Ukraine Out of Kursk, Here\u2019s What to Know\" title=\"As Russia Tries to Push Ukraine Out of Kursk, Here\u2019s What to Know\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russian troops appear close to driving Ukraine from all the territory it seized in the Kursk region of Russia last year, a prospect that President Trump appeared to reference in a social media post on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Russian push in Kursk appeared to accelerate after Mr. Trump froze military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine on March 3. The flow of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/11\/world\/europe\/ukraine-us-saudi-cease-fire-talks.html\" title=\"\">aid resumed<\/a> this week as Ukraine agreed to a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Thursday, Mr. Putin expressed preliminary support for the proposal but said he still had questions that required more discussion. Those questions, he told a news conference, included the fate of Ukrainian troops still in Kursk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here is a look at the Ukrainian incursion \u2014 the first on Russian soil since World War II \u2014 and how Russian troops are fighting back.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5a5bd9c3\">Why is Kursk important?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kursk is an area of western Russia that borders the Sumy region of Ukraine. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/russia-attacks-13-communities-in-sumy-oblast-injuring-1\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Sumy<\/a> had long been thought to be a place where Russia might try opening a new front in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in a move that surprised even its key allies, Ukrainian troops caught Moscow off guard last summer, pouring across a thinly defended border and opening a new front themselves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The main <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-war-kursk-offensive.html\" title=\"\">objectives<\/a>, one Ukrainian colonel told The New York Times, were to divert Russian troops from the grueling fighting in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, push Moscow\u2019s artillery out of range of the Sumy region and damage Russian morale.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Within weeks of the incursion, Ukraine had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/08\/23\/world\/europe\/ukraine-russia-kursk-invasion-map.html\" title=\"\">established<\/a> control over a slice of Kursk that its officials said encompassed nearly 500 square miles of farmland and settlements. Though barely a sliver of Russia, the largest country in the world, the assault was an embarrassment for Mr. Putin. It also surprised Ukraine\u2019s allies, including the United States, who had not been told in advance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The most important town in Kursk that Ukrainian forces seized was Sudzha, an administrative center with a population of around 5,000 people before the incursion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Analysts said that Ukraine\u2019s offensive was a gamble, stretching its military resources at a time when Kyiv\u2019s troops were struggling to defend a long front line in their own territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky said that his military did not want to stay on Russian soil indefinitely, and that territory gained in Kursk could be used to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s position in future negotiations with Moscow.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-31f0dfd9\">How has Russia responded?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Initially, rather than diverting large numbers of troops to defend Kursk, Mr. Putin said that eastern Ukraine remained <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/05\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-putin-kursk.html\" title=\"\">Moscow\u2019s main military focus<\/a>. Russian troops continued their creeping advance within Ukraine, taking the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/10\/02\/world\/europe\/ukraine-withdraws-vuhledar.html\" title=\"\">town of Vuhledar<\/a> in October and then pushing farther west.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Weeks into its incursion in Kursk, Ukraine\u2019s push slowed and its troops began gradually to lose ground as Russian forces deployed there in greater numbers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then, in the fall, Russia received a boost from its ally North Korea, which <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/north-korea-troops-russia-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">deployed around 11,000 soldiers<\/a> to Kursk to assist Moscow\u2019s defense. The deployment at first unnerved Ukraine and its allies. But the North Korean troops suffered wave after wave of heavy losses and, for a time, were <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/30\/world\/europe\/north-korea-troops-ukraine-russia.html\" title=\"\">withdrawn from the frontline<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent weeks, Russian forces, assisted by North Korean fighters, have advanced rapidly in Kursk, using drones and fighter jets to retake much of the territory that Ukraine had held.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine\u2019s top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, pushed back against the idea of an immediate Ukrainian withdrawal from the area. He said on Wednesday night that Ukrainian troops would \u201chold the line in the Kursk region for as long as it remains reasonable and necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Thursday, Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/13\/world\/europe\/russia-sudzha-recapture-kursk-ukraine.html?smid=url-share\" title=\"\">claimed that its forces had retaken Sudzha<\/a>. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. If confirmed, that Russian advance would leave only small pockets of Russian land along the border under Ukrainian control.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5f3ca321\">Trump weighs in on Kursk<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a post Friday on his Truth Social platform, President Trump said thousands of Ukrainian troops were \u201ccompletely surrounded by the Russian military.\u201d That appeared to be a reference to the Russian claims that Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded in the Kursk region \u2014 claims that have been challenged by independent analysts and that Ukraine\u2019s military officials <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/11\/world\/europe\/ukraine-sudzha-russian-forces.html\" title=\"\">have rejected.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Putin a day earlier had suggested that he wanted Ukraine to order its soldiers in Kursk to surrender as part of any potential cease-fire deal, signaling that Russia wouldn\u2019t let them peacefully withdraw.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Maria Varenikova<!-- --> and <!-- -->Anton Troianovski<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/kursk-ukraine-russia-war.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian troops appear close to driving Ukraine from all the territory it seized in the Kursk region of Russia last year, a prospect that President Trump appeared to reference in a social media post on Friday. The Russian push in Kursk appeared to accelerate after Mr. Trump froze military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/13\/multimedia\/13russia-ukraine-kursk-explainer-jvzf\/13russia-ukraine-kursk-explainer-jvzf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[671,91078,164378,4759,209,202,1130,128440,34139,8774],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259152,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259150\/revisions\/259152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}