Ukraine has lost up to 250 troops and dozens of armored vehicles in failed incursion attempts in Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions in recent days, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has claimed.
The ministry detailed Kiev’s estimated losses in a report on Wednesday, saying the destroyed equipment included seven tanks, seven US-supplied Bradley armored fighting vehicles, two other armored combat vehicles, four howitzers, and two self-propelled artillery vehicles. The casualty and equipment figures reflect losses suffered in border attacks in the past few days, as of Wednesday.
Kiev launched a combined assault on the border regions on Tuesday morning, after an artillery and drone bombardment of local civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian forces have been testing the border defenses since Sunday, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Tuesday’s coordinated, multi-directional attacks were met with Russian missile, artillery, and air strikes. In Kursk Region, sabotage and reconnaissance groups attempted to cross the border near the village of Tetkino at around 8am, but they were thrown back after suffering significant losses, the Defense Ministry said.
Ukrainian militants posted a propaganda video, attempting to falsely pass off the attack as successful. The footage was actually filmed in the nearby Ukrainian-controlled village of Rzhevka, around 300 meters away from Tetkino.
The incursion attempts were accompanied by extensive Ukrainian drone attacks. At least 136 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot out of the sky by Russian defenses in the past 24 hours, the Russian military said on Wednesday.