Ukraine's Commander Syrskyi Refutes Putin's Claims of Troop Encirclement in Kursk Region

The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, denied Putin’s statement that the Ukrainian military is surrounded in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.

Syrskyi stated that on his official social media account.

According to the Commander-in-Chief, Ukrainian forces continue to inflict losses on the Russian troops in this direction, despite the intense pressure. 

The statement reports that since August 8, Russian forces have suffered significant losses in this direction: 17,819 soldiers in total, with 6,662 killed, 10,446 wounded, and 711 captured.

Losses of Russian troops in weapons and military equipment are:

• 45 tanks;

• 256 combat armored vehicles;

• 565 units of automotive technology;

• 99 artillery systems;

• 5 multiple rocket launchers.

Previously, Vladimir Putin, at a press conference of the BRICS summit in Kazan, stated that Russian troops had allegedly surrounded and blocked about 2,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and "began to liquidate this group." He did not specify where exactly in the Kursk region this was happening.

Ukraine officially announced carrying out an operation in the Kursk region on August 12 and successfully created a buffer zone within Russian territory as a result of this military operation.