Russia has deployed a regiment of its Aerospace Forces to the Kursk region due to a shortage of hard labor amid the ongoing incursion into Ukraine, according to an independent Russian investigative outlet.
President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “space troops” have been tasked with pushing back Ukrainian forces after Kyiv introduced a cross-border incursion on Aug. 6 into Kursk, catching Moscow off guard, Important Stories reported on Sunday.
So far, Ukrainian forces have seized 1,150 square kilometers (444 square miles) of Russian territory and 82 settlements in Kursk, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky said on August 15.
The magnitude of the offensive is significant: Ukraine has conquered more territory in the Kursk region in a few days than Russia has in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops show no signs of slowing down.
It is the first time foreign troops have seized Russian territory since World War II.
Newsweek has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
Citing a closure of the matter, Important Stories said that a transitional motorized rifle regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces had been deployed to Kursk, which borders the Ukrainian region of Sumy.
The unit, created between May and June, is made up of workers from security and logistics companies, engineers, mechanics, some officials and army personnel from a Russian spaceport. There are also workers from the special warehouses of the Aerospace Forces and radar stations in Russia’s Voronezh region, which in the past were responsible for Russian nuclear deterrence.
The U. S. -based Institute for the Study of War said Sunday in its latest investigation into the standoff that the Kursk raid also forces Russia to redeploy its front-line troops to Ukraine. The ISW added that “the later stages of fighting in Russia will likely require further Russian commitments in terms of manpower and apparatus in the region. “
The think tank cited an article published in the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 17, which said that about 5,000 more people had already been transferred from Ukraine to Kursk as of Aug. 13.
This report “in part with a report that Russian forces had redeployed up to 11 battalions to the front line in Kursk Oblast as of August 11,” the ISW said.
“Russian forces have redeployed more forces to Kursk province since the first week of the Ukrainian incursion and have most likely redeployed more than 5,000 workers to Kursk province in total,” ISW added. The think tank said the precise amount of manpower and apparatus Putin will want in Kursk will depend on how strongly Zelensky’s troops protect the newly captured settlements.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek journalist based in Kuala Lumpur. She focuses on the war between Russia and Ukraine. Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and in the past she has worked with media outlets such as Daily Express, The Times, Harper’s BAZAAR and Grazia. She has a master’s degree in news journalism from City University of London and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. she in Russian language at Queen Mary, University of London. Languages: English, Russian
You can contact Isabel by emailing i. vanbrugen@newsweek. com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen
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