Ukrainian troops face a situation of tactical and operational disadvantage in Kursk, journalist says. Ukrainian troops start to win back small patches of land as Russian forces stall on the eastern front, the New York Times says. Ukraine drones strike an oil refinery that produces fuel for Russian warplanes attacking Ukraine. Geopolitical Dialogues: Valeriy Chaly in conversation with Pavlo Klimkin.
Ukrainian troops face situation of tactical, operational disadvantage in Kursk, journalist says
Ukrainian troops are facing a situation of tactical and operational disadvantage in Russia’s Kursk region, but are not at risk of encirclement, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian news web site Censor.net, Yuriy Butusov, said in a post to Facebook on Monday.
Russian forces continue attacks along the edges of the area that the Ukrainians are holding around the city of Sudzha, he continued. Ukrainian troops had to retreat in some parts of the foothold, but they are establishing defensive positions on new lines.
“The situation is very difficult — it continues to be a tactical disadvantage for our troops. The enemy is launching intense strikes at our lines of communication,” Butusov said.
All Ukrainian units on this axis are making all efforts to retain control of the positions they hold.
Ukrainian troops are well supplied with ammunition and drones. Their frontal assaults inflict heavy losses on Russian forces. Ukraine’s military is also having difficulties, primarily resulting from Russia’s edge in the drone wars and difficult resupply, Butusov argued.
Ukrainian troops repelled an assault by two North Korean special forces battalions near the village of Guyevo that aimed at cutting off supplies to a Ukrainian foothold at the Russia-Ukraine state border.
Russian forces have managed to break through the Ukrainian positions in the woods, but the area was quickly blocked by reserve groups of Ukraine’s 33st and 225th assault regiments, and the 253rd assault battalion supported by the paratroopers.
North Korean troops took heavy losses in close quarters combat supported by fire power.
“Service members of the [Ukrainian] assault units have demonstrated high combat effectiveness and discipline in the face of a very difficult and chaotic situation. They deserve special appreciation,” Butusov said.
Following a surprise attack from the disused Progress gas pipeline near Sudzha, Russian forces continue to use the pipeline as a supply route undetected by drones. The pipeline is now under reinforced surveillance and the exits from the tunnel are being blocked, Butusov said, adding that Russia’s losses in the area are mounting.
On Sunday, a Russian assault group exited from the tunnel, reached the outskirts of Sudzha and entered a two-story house in the city’s industrial zone. Ukraine’s 33rd assault regiment took out the entire group in close quarters combat with fire support, restoring positions. The Russians did not have time to fly the flag or record a video there, Butusov explained.
“The Russians will be probably sending more groups to show that they can fly a flag in Sudzha,” he said.
He added that the enemy’s assault operations were everything but a surprise, while the Ukrainian command of the Kursk group of forces did not adequately react to Russian strikes on the supply routes, further complicating the maneuver in defense.
Russia has achieved superiority in personnel and drones, and was able to benefit from it in some sections of the front lines. Russian forces continue assault operations. Ukrainian troops are not at risk of encirclement, they are being reinforced, Butusov said. Russia maintains a large superiority, he added.
“Our troops continue to face a situation of tactical and operational disadvantage. The enemy’s actions of a scale like that require a well-organized response, we need to overcome chaos and structure our activities. There are serious problems in that area. It is important that there are competent commanders in this direction who have a clear vision how to stabilize the situation, use the Russian offensive to inflict maximum losses on the enemy’s attack group, and save the lives of our troops. There’s a strong need for adequate decisions that are expected of the command of the group of forces and the supreme military command to address the situation,” Butusov said.
Ukrainian troops start to win back small patches of land as Russian forces stall on eastern front, NYT says
Ukrainian forces have stalled the Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region in recent months and have started to win back small patches of land, according to Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts cited by The New York Times. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
Russia still holds the initiative, and conducts dozens of assaults across the eastern front every day, the soldiers and analysts say. But after more than 15 months on the offensive, Russian brigades have been depleted and Moscow is struggling to replace destroyed equipment, offering limited opportunities that Ukrainian forces are trying to exploit.
“The Russian offensive effort in Donetsk has stalled in recent months due to poor weather, exhaustion among Russian forces, and effective Ukrainian adaptation to the way Russian troops have been fighting,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
While it is too early to say the front has stabilized in Donetsk, he said, the situation has improved as Ukraine finds innovative ways to compensate for its shortage of troops.
While Russia made significant gains in the southern part of the Donbas last year, it remains far from capturing the remaining cities and towns that make up the backbone of the Ukrainian defense.
Ukrainian soldiers cautioned that they expected the Russians to regroup and intensify offensive efforts to take advantage of the sudden suspension of American military assistance and intelligence sharing, which threatens to undermine the Ukrainian war effort.
Ukraine drones strike oil refinery that produces fuel for Russian warplanes attacking Ukraine
Ukrainian drones hit the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region overnight on Monday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in cooperation with other branches of the military were behind the operation, it added.
The drones hit the refinery at around 2 a.m. local time. The installation of anti-drone nets was not completed on the site, reports on social media said.
The Novokuibyshevsk plant, which has a design processing capacity of more than 8.8 million tons of oil a year, is part of Rosneft’s Samara region group of refineries.
The facility produces high-grade fuel for engines of the aircraft, including the Su-27 and Tu-22M3 that Russia uses in its attacks on Ukraine.
The refinery was attacked at least twice in March 2024.
Geopolitical Dialogues: Valeriy Chaly in conversation with Pavlo Klimkin
Join Valeriy Chaly, Chairman of the Board of UCMC, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, in conversation with Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014-2019) at Ukraine Crisis Media Center on March 11 at 12:00.
