Top US General: Ukraine Still Holds "Sizeable Chunk" In Russia, Is Expanding Ground

Ukraine is not only continuing to hold a 'sizeable chunk' of Russian terrain, but is now expanding the territory it has captured in Russia according to the US general commanding the US forces in Europe.

He believes that the Ukrainians are in a stronger position than they were last fall, as they have addressed their manpower issues and that the positions they hold in Russia are stronger than they were previously. All of this suggests that reports of Russian gains are exaggerated and that Ukrainian defenses are likely to hold for the foreseeable future. JL 

Veronika Melzerova reports in Politico:

Ukraine’s armed forces control a sizable chunk of the Kursk region in Russia despite the Kremlin’s push to squeeze them out. Ukraine has solved some of its manpower problems. Meanwhile, the Russians appear to suffer from a paucity of armored vehicles and a lack of manpower.  “There is a sizable force holding a sizable chunk of ground inside Russia’s Kursk Oblast now. And they’re holding very good defensive terrain in Belgorod. It’s very hard to envision Ukraine collapsing and losing that conflict. They are in much better position than they were.”

Ukraine’s armed forces control a sizable chunk of the Kursk region in Russia despite the Kremlin’s push to squeeze them out, according to a top American general.

The Ukrainians have now also entered the nearby Belgorod region, expanding their presence on Russian soil in a separate direction, U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, commander of the United States European Command, said during a congressional hearing Thursday.

“There is a sizable force holding a sizable — diminished, but sizable — chunk of ground inside Russia’s Kursk Oblast right now. And they’re holding on very good defensive terrain south of there in Belgorod,” Cavoli said. “The Ukrainians, a couple of weeks ago, pushed a smaller counteroffensive back into Russia [in Belgorod]. So, we still have a back and forth going up in that area.”Cavoli is the first military official to confirm that Ukrainian troops have entered the Belgorod region. Ukraine’s own military has not officially confirmed its troops’ presence in Belgorod, but regularly reports Ukrainian airstrikes in the region.   

Neither Cavoli nor the Ukrainian army revealed how much territory Ukrainians control in the Kursk region, but according to the DeepState OSINT project that monitors military operations, Kyiv’s forces still hold around 140 square kilometers in Kursk, out of the 1,300 they originally seized last summer in the surprise cross-border offensive.

In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his army has been taking proactive steps at the Russian border to stop an upcoming massive offensive Moscow is preparing on the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

Ukraine is not destined to lose

In a further general assessment of the battlefield, Cavoli said the Ukrainian army is now in strong defensive positions, and is improving weekly its ability to recruit and train new soldiers to reinforce those positions.

“[Still] it is hard sitting here right now to envision a major Ukrainian offensive that clears everybody, you know, out of every square inch of Ukraine. But likewise, it’s very hard to envision Ukraine collapsing and losing that conflict,” Cavoli said. “I do not think there is an inevitability to a Ukrainian loss … They are in much better position than they were.”

It appears that Ukraine has solved some of its manpower problems that were so acute last fall, according to Cavoli. Meanwhile, the Russians appear to suffer from a paucity of armored vehicles and a lack of manpower.  

“Ukrainians increased the pool of people available for voluntary recruitment. And they’ve done a good job squeezing people out of headquarters to the front. Ukrainians are relying mainly on one-way attack drones, as well as some indigenously produced cruise missile systems,” Cavoli said.

“They’re trying to win. They want to start by making sure Russia doesn’t win,” he added.