The Russian defence ministry has announced that the total losses of Ukrainian forces since the start of their attack on the Kursk region on 6 August have reached 18,900 military personnel.

In a statement, the ministry said that hundreds of armoured vehicles, tanks, cannons, rocket launchers, air defence systems, electronic warfare stations, radar stations and other weapons and vehicles had been destroyed since the start of the Ukrainian offensive on Kursk.

Ukraine had announced at the start of its offensive on Kursk that it intended to create a buffer zone in the province to protect itself from shelling and to open humanitarian corridors to deliver aid to civilians.

It should be noted that since the outbreak of the military operation in Ukraine, there have been conflicting reports on the extent of the losses suffered by both sides in the crisis, with each side claiming to have suffered heavy losses, without it being possible to independently verify this information due to the ongoing fighting.