Russian forces continue to fight with Ukrainian troops for control of the strategic border town and vital gas hub of Sudzha in the Kursk region, a senior military commander said.
“The enemy is everywhere and in some parts of the city, active clashes are taking place there every day,” Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Akhmat’s special forces, told Russian state media.
“The enemy cannot claim complete control over Sudzha because in reality he does not have it,” he added.
Kiev said its forces had taken control of dozens of towns in the Kursk region since storming the Russian border on Tuesday last week.
There is a pipeline in Sudzha that continues to transport Russian natural gas to Europe despite ongoing hostilities.
Alaudinov had previously told state media that Russian forces were in the “final stage of blockade” of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, and had previously indicated that efforts to completely repel the Ukrainian incursion could take “weeks.”
In a video shared on his Telegram channel on Wednesday, Alaudinov claimed that Ukraine had deployed between 11,600 and 11,900 troops in the Kursk region. The Russian Defense Ministry had previously said that Kyiv had sent around 1,000 troops across the border, but Ukrainian officials said that estimate was incorrect.
“(Ukraine has) thrown all its more or less operational resources into the fiery furnace from which they can no longer escape,” Alaudinov said.
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