Ukraine lost 40% of land it seized in Kursk region

Senior military source says Russia deployed 59,000 troops there to wrest back control

Ukraine has lost more than 40 percent of the territory in Russia's Kursk region that it rapidly seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said.

The source, who is on Ukraine's General Staff, said Russia had deployed some 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv's forces swept in and advanced swiftly, catching Moscow unprepared 2 1/2 years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"At most, we controlled about 1,376 sq km, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counter-attacks," the source said.

"Now we control approximately 800 sq km. We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate."

The Kursk offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II and caught Moscow unprepared.

With the thrust into Kursk, Kyiv aimed to stem Russian attacks in eastern and north-eastern Ukraine, force Russia to pull back forces gradually advancing in the east and give Kyiv extra leverage in any future peace negotiations.

But Russian forces are still steadily advancing in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin's main objectives were to occupy the entire Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and oust Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.