Ukraine is fighting to gain full control over a town near the border of Russia and has sent small units to conduct deeper raids into the Kursk region, southwest of Russia, after capturing several small settlements in recent days.
At the same time, the Russian military announced that it has sent additional troops and armored vehicles in an effort to repel the Ukrainian attack. Russian television has broadcast video footage of military convoys carrying artillery, heavy machine guns, and tanks.
To prepare for a potential Russian counterattack, Ukrainian officials announced on August 9 that 20,000 people would be evacuated from the Sumy region, located on the other side of the border from Kursk.
The New York Times notes that these developments highlight the new level of unpredictability in the situation on the fronts from the Russian border attack that Ukraine has launched.
Military analysts point out that the border attack has stretched Ukrainian forces thin. The Ukrainian military has remained silent about this campaign and has not publicly acknowledged launching a cross-border attack.
The fighting in Russia showed no signs of easing on August 9, as the Ukrainian military announced that it had attacked a Russian airbase in the Lipetsk region, adjacent to Kursk, striking aerial bomb storage facilities. Russian officials said that a large drone attack had caused several explosions and fires at a military airbase.
The Ukrainians also reported that a Russian attack on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka - a city in eastern Ukraine 320 km south of the combat zone - had killed 14 people and injured 43 others.
Military analysts reported that the Ukrainian cross-border attack involved at least four brigades and was a mobile operation supported by artillery, air defense, and electronic warfare, resulting in rapid advances on the ground.
A high-ranking Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the goal of the border attack was to draw Russian forces away from other parts of the front line. However, military experts warned that Russia may respond with reserve forces not yet engaged in Ukraine.
A battlefield map provided by the Black Bird Group - a Finnish organization specializing in analyzing images from the battlefield - shows that the Ukrainian military has gained approximately 260 square kilometers of Russian territory since the start of the border attack, although it is unclear whether Ukraine has full control over the area. Ukraine has breached two Russian defense lines.
Notably, the Ukrainian military has advanced into Sudzha - a small town of around 6,000 residents, 10 km from the Ukraine - Russia border. On August 9, the Ukrainian military announced that it had taken control of the town.
Emil Kastehelmi, an analyst with the Black Bird Group, noted that some Ukrainian units appear to be conducting deeper reconnaissance raids further north towards Lgov - a town 80 km from the border, in an effort to test Russian defenses.
