Russia redeploys 40,000 troops to Kursk Oblast as Kyiv’s incursion continues, Zelensky says

Moscow has moved about 40,000 Russian soldiers to embattled Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Sept. 19.

Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast in early August, claiming to have seized around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles).

Zelensky's latest figure of Russian soldiers redeployed to Kursk Oblast is lower than the one announced in early September, where he put their number at 60,000.

"We have also replenished our exchange fund," Zelensky said.

"All of this is important and affects the general situation in the war."

Ukraine's president said that Ukrainian soldiers managed to scale down Russia's "assault potential" in Donetsk Oblast, but described the situation as "extremely difficult." Fierce fighting is ongoing in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors.

Last week, Russia launched a counterattack in Kursk Oblast, which was halted on Sept. 18, according to the Ukrainian military.

One of the objectives of Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast was to force Russia to redeploy its forces from the front in Ukraine, primarily from the Pokrovsk sector.

In addition to pushing Russian troops away from the border, Ukraine has reportedly taken over 600 Russian captives and inflicted 6,000 casualties in Russia's region as of early September.

Russia striking Sumy Oblast due to Kyiv’s successes in Kursk incursion, Ukraine’s military says

Vadym Mysnyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Tactical Group Siversk, said that the attacks would have continued even if Ukraine had not advanced in the Kursk sector of the front line.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova