It is now six months since the beginning of the historic operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. This unique operation thwarted the Russian aggressor's plans to re-attack Kharkiv and open a new front towards Sumy. The shortage of manpower forced Putin to import "cannon fodder" from the DPRK, but this did not help the Kremlin succeed. The Kursk offensive began on August 6, 2024. Since its beginning, the total losses of the Russian army have amounted to about 40 thousand people, including more than 16 thousand killed. The fighting moved to the territory of the Russian Federation for the first time in 11 years of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding hundreds of square kilometers of the buffer zone. The actions of the Defense Forces forced the Russian Armed Forces to transfer significant resources to the Kursk region, weakening their own positions on other frontlines. Moscow was forced to engage 12,000 North Korean troops, including 500 officers and 3 generals, who have already lost 4,000 soldiers. Of the three notional brigades of the DPRK, one has actually been destroyed, and two have lost their combat capability. In the Kursk region, the Russians lost 690 armored combat vehicles, 390 artillery systems, 12 MLRS, 12 air defense systems, 1 airplane, 3 helicopters, 940 operational and tactical UAVs, 1,180 vehicles, and 35 special vehicles. The Ukrainian military captured almost a thousand Russian soldiers. This made it possible to return home hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian prisons. 

Initially, Ukraine controlled more than 1,000 km² of territory and more than 100 settlements in this Russian region. However, Russia has now regained some of the territory. Putin's inability to expel the Ukrainian army from Russian territory may take on additional significance as US President Donald Trump insists on a deal to end the war. While Russian troops continue to gradually advance on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv is keeping the Kursk region as a bargaining chip for a potential exchange of territory in future negotiations. The first occupation of Russian territory since World War II is a personal setback for Putin, as his domestic image is based on being a strong leader who defends the nation's interests.Overall, the effectiveness of Russian military operations has been lower than expected. The system was not particularly prepared either for the loss of territory or for the fact that everything would be delayed. At the same time, Bloomberg notes that although the fighting covers only a small area of the Kursk region, the Ukrainian offensive in the region with a population of about a million people has come as a shock to Russians, who in the third year of the war have felt the consequences of the invasion launched by Putin.Russian officials have estimated that about 150,000 people in the Kursk region have fled their homes because of the fighting. There is growing discontent among the population with the government's inability to protect its citizens. In particular, hundreds of people came out to rallies in Kursk and complained that officials are not doing enough to accommodate the displaced or help them find their missing relatives.

The other day Ukrainian paratroopers captured several dozen more Russian army servicemen. The prisoners were provided with medical aid in time. They are soldiers of the 155th Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Federation. This is the same 155th Brigade whose soldiers are known for their particularly cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russian prisoners say they know of cases of particularly cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They confirmed the reputation of the brigade that its fighters do not take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner, but instead carry out brutal executions, including cutting off various body parts and beheadings. This is a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions on the customs of warfare, to which both Russia and Ukraine are parties.

On February 1, Russian troops attacked a boarding school building in the Ukrainian army-controlled town of Suzhi, where local civilians were staying. There were 86 people in the building: women, children and the elderly who were preparing for evacuation, as well as 4 officers of the National Police of Ukraine. The Russian aviation struck the building with a guided aerial bomb, although the Russian side knew that civilians were housed there. This is another war crime committed by the Russian Federation, this time against its own citizens. Eighty-four people were rescued from the rubble of the orphanage building, the victims are being provided with medical aid, and some are being evacuated to hospitals in Ukraine.

By the beginning of the third month of winter, the Ukrainians not only did not leave the Kursk region, but launched a new counteroffensive. Armored vehicles landed in the villages of Cherkaska Konopelka and Fanasiyivka. The total depth of the breakthrough was about five kilometers. The commander of the Russian 11th Paratrooper Brigade was dismissed from his post for the Ukrainian Armed Forces' breakthrough near Sudzha. Since the beginning of the year, Russian troops have been able to liberate only 54 square kilometers of Kursk region, but this is slightly more than 10% of the territory occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Back in the fall, Russian propagandists promised to completely liberate the Kursk region by the New Year, but this is still not happening.

Although the Kursk operation did not stop Russia's offensive in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin has sent thousands of troops to try to push Ukrainian forces out of the region.Putin is having to prioritize his forces as he is depleted and seems more focused on gains in Ukraine than on regaining territory in the Kursk region. Overall, the Kursk offensive remains an example of sudden asymmetric and successful actions by the Ukrainian Defense Forces that allow them to inflict significant losses on a superior enemy and seize the initiative on the battlefield.