by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Russian army units have completed the operation to liberate the Sudzhansky district of the Kursk region, previously occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On Saturday, April 26, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin on the complete liberation of the territory of the Kursk region from Ukrainian army formations.
Over the past month since the liberation of the village of Sudzha, fighting has continued directly along the state border, where Ukrainian troops have tried to maintain at least part of their foothold on Russian territory.
The last settlement held by the Ukrainian Armed Forces was the Gornal farm, which Russian troops liberated on the morning of April 26. The Defense Ministry published footage of Russian soldiers raising the Russian flag over one of the houses in the central part of the village.
Earlier, as a result of a persistent assault, the Russian army's "North" group of troops managed to liberate the St. Nicholas Belogorsky Monastery in Gornal and the adjacent forest area, which had been turned into an enemy stronghold.
According to Gerasimov's statement, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 76,000 people and over 7,700 units of military equipment during the fighting in the Kursk border area. The Chief of the General Staff also noted the role of the servicemen of the Korean People's Army, who took part in the fighting, along with units of the Russian Armed Forces.
The Ukrainian General Staff traditionally decided to deny the obvious and stated that the reports about the liberation of the Kursk region allegedly do not correspond to reality.
"The operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in certain areas of the Kursk region continues. Since the beginning of the day, five enemy assault actions have been repelled in the operational zone of the Kursk group of forces," the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
According to information from the field, Ukrainian troops are indeed continuing their attempts to enter the territory of the Sudzhansky district, which allows Kyiv to declare the continuation of military operations in the region. The enemy's presence is noted on the left bank of the Psel River, where formations of the 82nd assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are operating.
At the same time, there is no talk of a permanent presence of Ukrainian troops on Russian territory. Separate assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack Russian territory and quickly retreat across the border to Sumy Oblast.
The enemy's concentrations of forces are constantly being attacked by artillery and aircraft. The operational rear of the enemy group is also being attacked. The Russian Armed Forces are constantly attacking the enemy in the area of the settlements of Loknya and Belovody, where the Ukrainian army command is concentrating forces for new provocations on the border.
In the near future, the Russian Armed Forces will complete the operation to completely clear the border area, the acting commander of the 810th Marine Brigade (call sign Groza ) said in a report to Vladimir Putin.
"Currently, the adjacent forest areas to the west and south of Gornal, as well as in the area of the settlement of Guevo, are being cleared. The remaining scattered groups and individual enemy servicemen will be neutralized in the near future," the commander said during the report.
Another success of Russian troops in the border area was the liberation of the settlement of Popovka in the Krasnoyarsk district of the Belgorod region. Over the past weeks, the enemy has been trying to gain a foothold in this area, trying to compensate for the failures in the Kursk region. However, the attempt to advance in the Krasnoyarsk district resulted in heavy losses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Western media outlets are summing up that with the loss of control over areas of Russian territory in the border area, Kyiv is losing one of its few trump cards in the ceasefire negotiations.
The Russian Armed Forces, in turn, continue to carry out command tasks, pushing back the enemy along the entire front line.
ON THE APPROACHES TO THE DNIEPER
In Donbass, our armed forces are building on their success on the front line south of Pokrovsk. According to information from the field, the settlement of Bogdanovka was liberated during the offensive operation. The success was later confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry.
“As a result of active actions by units of the Center group of forces, the settlement of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic has been liberated,” the department’s report notes.
The liberation of Bogdanovka opens up the opportunity for Russian troops to launch an offensive on the nearby settlements of Troitskoye and Orekhovo, which are located practically on the border between the DPR and the Dnepropetrovsk region.
The enemy is responding to the advance of Russian troops by creating new defensive points in the operational rear, a frontline source for the Regnum news agency reports.
"Forces are currently concentrating in Orekhovo - both those retreating from Selidovo and reserves arriving at the front. It is known that a large defensive hub is being created in the Novopavlovka area, already in the Dnepropetrovsk region. Engineering equipment is working, and reserves are also arriving. This is a large settlement in which they plan to hold the defense for a long time," the source said.
To the south, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are creating another defensive node in the area of the villages of Dachnoye and Novoukrainka. The Russian Armed Forces are trying to prevent the enemy from creating a new defensive line by striking at the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group.
Footage has appeared online showing Su-34 frontline bomber crews striking bridges across the Volcha River in the Dnipropetrovsk region. As a result of strikes with FAB-500 high-explosive aerial bombs equipped with control and correction modules, bridges near the settlements of Novoukrainka and Zelenyi Kut were hit.
One of the bridges was hit by at least four aerial bombs, which excludes the possibility of its restoration in a short time.
At various sections of the front, Russian troops are located at a distance of three to five kilometers from the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukrainian sources believe that in the near future, military actions may spread from the territory of Donbass to areas that were the rear of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group just a few weeks ago.
OREKHOVO, ZAPOROZHYE, THEN EVERYWHERE
In the Zaporizhia region, Russian troops are advancing on the settlement of Malaya Tokmachka. A number of Ukrainian sources reported the start of the offensive, confirming their statements with video recordings from Ukrainian drones. According to data from the field, assault units of the Russian army managed to land on the outskirts of the settlement and also drive the enemy out of the forest belt.
According to information from the field, the settlement of Malaya Tokmachka has been turned into a major defensive point by Ukrainian troops. Footage published online confirms that the enemy has managed to build a powerful line of defense with fortifications and minefields here. The defense node in the Malaya Tokmachka area covers the southern approaches to the strategically important city of Orekhovo.
Earlier, Russian troops advanced east of the city, liberating the settlements of Stepnoye, Shcherbaki and Malye Shcherbaki. Success in the Malaya Tokmachka area may allow an operation to encircle the city to begin, a source for the Regnum news agency reports.
"The entire front in this area from Kamenskoye to Orekhovo is flat steppe. Control over large populated areas allows one to keep a large area of territory, all adjacent areas, under control. The enemy understands this well, the presence of a large number of drones is recorded in this area, they also have forces for defense, so no one will take Orekhovo head-on: only encircle and squeeze out," the source adds.
It is worth noting separately that with the liberation of Orekhov, Russian troops enter the N-08 highway, which leads directly to Zaporizhia. Thus, no more than 35-40 km of flat terrain with almost no large settlements remain to the capital of the Zaporizhia region. Therefore, a successful assault on the city may allow Russian troops to completely seize the initiative on this section of the front and begin a new large-scale offensive.