Ukraine's Kursk advances have "spoiled" Russia's planned offensive
Kyiv's incursion into the Kursk region has hindered Moscow's plans to increase the front in northeastern Ukraine, according to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Ukraine's operation, which was launched on August 6, had prevented Russia from creating buffer zones along the border—including in Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, which borders Kursk.
The ISW's latest map marks how geolocated footage indicated Russia's capture of Snagost and advances east of thetown of Korenevo on Thursday, but it also noted Ukrainian gains south of Veseloye. The same day, Pentagon Spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder described Russian gains in Kursk as "marginal."
