RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine loses over 36,800 troops, 225 tanks: situation in Russia’s Kursk Region

The Ukrainian army lost over 250 troops in the Kursk area in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Ukraine’s losses have reached 36,850 troops and 225 tanks since fighting began in the region. Russian forces continue their operation to eliminate Ukrainian units.

TASS has gathered the main information about the situation in the region.

Operation to wipe out Ukrainian units

- Units of Battlegroup North defeated the forces of the 21st, 41st, 44th and 47th mechanized brigades, the 17th Heavy Mechanized Brigade, the Fifth Tank Brigade, the 80th, 82nd and 95th air assault brigades, the 36th Marine Brigade, as well as the 112th, 116th, 117th and 129th territorial defense brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces near Alexandria, Viktorovka, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Leonidovka, Martynovka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo and Sverdlikovo.

- Tactical and army aircraft crews and artillery units hit enemy troops and equipment near Alexandria, Guyevo, Daryino, Kazachya Loknya, Kruglenkoye, Kubatkin, Lebedevka, Martynovka, Nizhny Klin, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Novoivanovka, Plyokhovo, and Sverdlikovo, as well as Basovka, Belovody, Vodolagi, Zhuravka and Loknya in the Sumy Region.

Ukrainian losses

- The Ukrainian armed forces lost over 250 troops in the past 24 hours.

- Russian forces destroyed two tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles, an armored combat vehicle, four motor vehicles and two mortars.

- Since the start of fighting in the Kursk area, the enemy has lost more than 36,850 troops, 225 tanks, 160 infantry fighting vehicles, 123 armored personnel carriers, 1,202 armored combat vehicles, 1,060 motor vehicles, 305 artillery pieces, and 40 multiple launch rocket systems, including eleven US-made HIMARS launchers and six MLRS launchers, as well as 13 missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 70 electronic warfare systems, 13 counterbattery radars, and four air defense radars.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says war has damaged most of its civilian airports

Fifteen of Ukraine's civilian airports have been damaged since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal was quoted as saying by local media on Saturday.

Ukraine, which the state aviation service says has 20 civilian airports, has been exploring avenues to partially open its airspace. It has been completely closed since the start of the war.

Ukrainians who want to fly abroad currently have to go via road or rail to neighbouring countries to catch flights. For those living in the east, the journey out of Ukraine can take a day in itself.

"We conducted a risk assessment and determined the needs of the air defence forces to partially open the airspace," local news agency Ukrinform quoted Shmyhal as saying at a transportation conference.

"Security issues and the military situation remain key to this decision," he said.

Shmyhal added that Russia had attacked Ukraine's port infrastructurenearly 60 times in the last three months, damaging or destroying nearly 300 facilities and 22 civilian vessels.

A senior partner at insurance broker Marsh McLennan told Reuters earlier this month that Ukraine could reopen the airport in the western city of Lviv in 2025 if regulators deem it safe and a political decision is made.

Tass/Reuters