The local and central authorities of the Russian Federation have different versions of fighting in Kursk region - ISW

This information is contrary to the report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the FSB of Russia, which say they reflected the raids. This is stated in the report of the American Institute of War Study (ISW) on August 6, 2024. In particular, Russian sources claim that on August 6, Ukrainian troops carried out a series of raids across the border in the Kursk region.

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the FSB stated that Russian border troops and FSB staff reflected several raids of Ukrainian forces equipped with approximately battalion number of tanks and armored vehicles. The Ukrainian forces allegedly came to Russian positions near Nikolaevo-Darino and Oleshny Kursk region (to the northwest of Sumy and along the Russian-Ukrainian border).

Geolocation, published on August 6, show damaged and abandoned armored vehicles about seven kilometers north of the international border west of Lyubimivka, Kursk region. Russian sources claim that the footage shows Ukrainian equipment, but ISW cannot confirm whether this armored vehicle is Russian, Ukrainian or both sides.

Russian military bloggers claim that the Ukrainian forces were attacked from two directions: from the checkpoint "Sudzha" and from the village of Nove, Sumy region in the direction of Nikolaevo-Darino, Kursk region. The Ministry of Defense of Russia argued that the Russian reserve forces responded to probable Ukrainian raids, and the Russian insider source claimed that the elements of the Chechen special forces "Akhmat" also reflected the raids, but ISW could not check these statements.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia stated that Russian troops destroyed 16 Ukrainian armored vehicles during the raids and that Russian troops had struck in response to Ukrainian positions in Sumy region. Russian bloggers have posted videos that allegedly showed the consequences of Ukrainian raids, although most of the damage shown in the video are the result of ordinary Ukrainian shelling and do not indicate that land was carried out in the area.