Russia is more focused on pushing towards Porkrovsk in the east, as Ukrainian forces withdrew from some positions in the area.
The Russian military has recently moved units from at least one airborne (VDV) regiment from the western Zaporizhzhia region to the Kursk region in response to Ukraine’s recent incursion. This move, which also includes redeployments from the northern Kharkiv region, is seen as an effort to stabilise the front lines and improve command and control over Russian conscripts.
Karolina Hird, Russia Deputy Team Lead at the Institute for the Study of War, commented on the situation: “These are not considered priority areas of front for the Russian military. We haven’t seen redeployments from Pokrovsk because Russia is going to continue pushing forward to meet as many territorial objectives as it can in the Donetsk region and is not going to deprioritise that effort for the sake of repelling quickly the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk.”
Meanwhile, recent Russian advances in the Pokrovsk direction appear to have led to Ukrainian withdrawals from certain positions southeast of the area.
However, Russian forces have likely failed to achieve their goal of encircling Ukrainian troops there, according to recent reports.
