Russian Forces Fight to Fend Off Cross-Border Raid in Kursk

A damaged house following what local authorities called a Ukrainian military strike in the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region, Russia, in this image released on Aug. 6, 2024. Acting Governor of Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov via Telegram/Handout via Reuters

Russian troops are fighting to repel a new cross-border incursion from Ukraine that is targeting its western Kursk region.

Kursk regional Gov. Alexei Smirnov on Aug. 6 posted multiple warnings on the Telegram messaging platform about incoming missile strikes throughout the region, which borders Ukraine. Smirnov later said hundreds of Ukrainian forces and dozens of armored vehicles had pushed across the border and into Russia.

While Smirnov and the Russian military have both attributed the Kursk assault to the Ukrainian military, Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on the incursion.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported directing artillery and airstrikes to repel the attack.

The Russian military stated on Aug. 7 that they wounded or killed 260 enemy combatants and struck 50 armored vehicles, including seven tanks. The Russian military also reported destroying two Buk M1 SAM self-propelled air-defense missile launchers, a mine-clearing vehicle, and an electronic warfare station supporting the cross-border attack.

“The operation to neutralize the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] units is in progress,” the Russian military stated on Aug. 7.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the clashes in the Kursk region in a cabinet meeting on Aug. 7 and referred to the attack as “another major provocation” on the part of the Ukrainian government. Putin announced that he would confer with leaders within the Russian Defense Ministry and Russia’s Federal Security Service to address the ongoing fighting.

The Russian leader said he also spoke with Smirnov about the situation and had ordered civilian agencies to assist the residents of the region.

Attacks Inside Russia’s Borders

The fighting in the Kursk region isn’t the first time Russian forces have had to contend with incursions on their home soil since the start of the Russia–Ukraine war in 2022. Although the war has largely centered around Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and its Black Sea and Azov Sea territories, Ukrainian aircraft, artillery, and drone operators have struck targets inside Russia’s borders throughout the conflict.

Russian forces have repelled previous overland attacks targeting its Belgorod and Kursk regions in May and June of 2023 and again in March of this year. In each instance, the Russian military reported wounding or killing dozens of cross-border combatants and destroying dozens of military vehicles before the attackers finally retreated.

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), which presents itself as a group of Ukraine-based Russian citizens opposed to Putin, claimed responsibility for the 2023 Belgorod raids. The RVC also claimed a role in the March attacks in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, along with two more self-styled Russian dissident groups: the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Siberian Battalion. None of the three groups have claimed responsibility for the recent Kursk assault.

Each of the past cross-border raids has been relatively short-lived.

The first set of RVC attacks inside Belgorod came ahead of a highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive that aimed to retake territory in southeast Ukraine.

The March attacks in the Belgorod and Kursk regions came just days before Russia’s presidential elections. Shortly after securing a sixth presidential term, Putin raised the prospect of expanding a buffer zone to ward off further cross-border assaults into Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and new Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (L) attend a cabinet meeting in Moscow on Jan. 21, 2020. Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP

Rob Lee, a retired U.S. Marine officer and a researcher for the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, cast doubt that this latest Kursk assault will relieve much pressure on Ukrainian forces elsewhere along the front.

“Ultimately, the two previous large cross-border operations in May–June 2023 and March 2024 had little effect on the fighting on the priority axes,” Lee wrote in an analysis he shared to the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 6.

He assessed that the first cross-border attack on Belgorod last year had caught Russian forces off-guard but that the second assault in March was less successful.

A Ukrainian artilleryman mans a howitzer near Ukraine's Kharkiv region on May 21, 2024. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

“It is unlikely this operation will have a significant effect on the course of the war, and previous cross-border operations did not have serious domestic political ramifications for Putin,” Lee said.

Russian forces have yet to fully drive back the current Kursk assault; it remains to be seen how the fighting there will shape the wider conflict, now in its third year.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this article.