dpa
Moscow
The Russian army has launched a counteroffensive in the western region of Kursk in a bid to expel an incursion of Ukrainian fighters, according to a statement issued by a senior Russian military figure.
"The Ukrainian armed forces have been driven out of almost 10 localities,” Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Chechen special unit Akhmat, wrote on his Telegram channel. He shared a video purportedly showing the capture of eight Ukrainian soldiers in the region, though this could not be independently verified.
Alaudinov is also the deputy head of the main political department of the Russian armed forces. In early August, Ukraine unexpectedly advanced into the Kursk region, capturing more than 1,000 square kilometres and taking many Russian soldiers prisoner.
Kiev has said the aim of the advance is to at least partially force Moscow to withdraw some of its soldiers from their occupation of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.