Ukraine faces counterattacks from Russia in Kursk after incursion stalls.

• It seems that Russia is launching a significant counterattack to regain control of the large regions near its Kursk border that were recently taken by Ukrainian forces during a daring incursion.
• Russian Major General Apti Alaudinov, in command of special forces in Kursk, announced Wednesday that Russian forces had regained control of approximately 10 settlements in the region, which borders northeastern Ukraine.

Russia announced it has launched a significant counterattack to regain control of significant portions of its Kursk region that were captured by Ukrainian troops during the recent border incursion.

Russian Major General Apti Alaudinov, in command of special forces engaged in fighting in Kursk, stated that Russian forces regained control of approximately 10 settlements located near the northeastern Ukrainian border.

Yesterday and today [Wednesday], in total, about 10 settlements of the Kursk region were liberated, as Alaudinov, the deputy head of the Russian defense ministry's military-political administration, informed Russian state news agency TASS in comments translated by Google.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Ukrainian forces are being gradually pushed out of Kursk and will be completely removed, according to RIA Novosti.

Western defense analysts said Wednesday that geolocated footage and visual evidence confirms counterattacks are taking place in Kursk, showing Russian troops movements and operations, but Ukraine has not commented or confirmed that a Russian counteroffensive has begun.

On September 10 and 11, Russian forces launched counterattacks in Kursk Oblast, reportedly seizing several settlements northeast and south of Korenevo. The size, scale, and potential prospects of these counterattacks are unclear, and the situation remains fluid, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War.

The analysts stated that Russian forces may temporarily cut off Ukrainian forces' salient, which extends into enemy territory and is surrounded on three sides, such as Ukrainian forces' thrust into Russia's Kursk region, before launching a more organized and well-equipped effort to expel Ukrainian forces from Russian territory.

The ISW observed that the visual evidence indicated that Russian forces in Kursk were operating in company-sized units of 100-250 soldiers and may be utilizing more experienced units to execute the counteroffensive. If proven true, this strategy underscores the significance Russia places on ending an incursion that has tarnished the Kremlin's reputation and exposed vulnerabilities in Russia's national security.

Since the start of the audacious border raid on Aug. 6, Ukrainian forces have swiftly taken control of over 1,300 square kilometers (around 500 square miles) of territory and captured 100 settlements and hundreds of Russian prisoners of war. As a result, Ukraine's army chief announced at the end of August that the incursion had prompted regional authorities to evacuate 150,000 people living in the region, as well as neighboring Belgorod.

Kyiv's incursion left Russia stunned, prompting it to initially downplay the situation before redeploying troops from the eastern front in Ukraine to the Kursk area. However, it's unclear whether Russia sent as many troops as Ukraine hoped to stop its advances in eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv views the incursion as a means to strengthen its bargaining position in future peace negotiations with Russia, which are anticipated to increase in the near future as the war nears its third anniversary.

Russia turns the tables

The Kremlin has typically kept Russia's response to the incursion low-key, with little coverage of Ukraine's Kursk offensive in the tightly-controlled Russian media or official commentary.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has repeatedly expressed his anger over the incursion, but he has also reportedly ordered his officials to stop the offensive by October 1st.

Last week, Putin stated that Ukraine's operation was a "failure" because it failed to persuade Russia to withdraw troops from eastern Ukraine to Kursk.

Putin stated that the enemy aimed to make us anxious and concerned, relocate troops between sectors, and halt our offensive in crucial regions, particularly in Donbas. However, Putin declared that the plan was unsuccessful, as he said at the Eastern Economic Forum last week, in comments translated by Reuters.

Ukraine has been confronted with the challenge of deciding whether to send more troops to the incursion or to reinforce its forces in eastern Ukraine to prevent Russia from capturing the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.

Russia is receiving support from its pro-war and pro-Kremlin "milbloggers" as it plans to launch a counteroffensive in Kursk, which aims to regain lost territory. Russian defense experts are praising the counterattacks and the bid to reclaim land.

On Wednesday, the pro-war Rybar channel, which is believed to have ties to Russia's military, posted on Telegram that Russian troops were advancing in certain areas of Kursk and had already recaptured several settlements.

The Russian military is continuing its counteroffensive in the Korenevsky district of the Kursk region, building on its successes from previous days and pushing the enemy out of their occupied positions, according to a report from the channel.

The Russian defense ministry has stated that 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the Kursk operation since its start on August 6th. However, the ministry did not provide any evidence to support this claim, and both sides frequently manipulate casualty figures to emphasize their opponent's losses.