Ukraine launched a counterattack on Sunday, sparking fierce combat in Russia’s Kursk region for a second day.
Moscow claimed on Monday that Russian troops had stopped Ukraine’s attempt to make a breakthrough and that it had responded to the attack with air and artillery power.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kursk operation, which began with a large-scale invasion in August, created a buffer zone that keeps Russian forces from being stationed in strategic locations along the eastern Ukrainian front.
Russia and Ukraine claim to have killed or injured thousands of each other’s soldiers in Kursk, although the BBC is unable to independently confirm these claims.
The Ukrainian military reported Monday that during the previous five years, 15,000 Russian servicemen had been killed and 23,000 injured there.
