Russia turns the tables on Ukraine, launching counterattacks to retake Kursk after incursion stalls

Russia said it has launched a major counteroffensive to retake large areas of its Kursk region that were seized by Ukrainian forces in the border incursion that began last month.

Russian Maj. Gen. Apti Alaudinov, who commands special forces fighting in Kursk, said that Russian troops took back control of about 10 settlements in Kursk, which borders northeastern Ukraine.

"Our situation is good ... our units have gone on the offensive. Yesterday and by today [Wednesday], in total, about 10 settlements of the Kursk region were liberated," Alaudinov, who is also deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's military-political administration, told Russian state news agency Tass in comments translated by Google.

On Thursday, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said Ukrainian forces were "now being steadily squeezed out from" Kursk, and "will be squeezed out completely, there can be no doubt about it," he told news agency RIA Novosti.

Ukraine has not commented or confirmed that a Russian counteroffensive has begun but Western defense analysts said Wednesday that geolocated footage and visual evidence confirms counterattacks are taking place, showing Russian troop movements and operations in Kursk.

"Russian forces began counterattacks along the western edge of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast and reportedly seized several settlements northeast and south of Korenevo on September 10 and 11. The size, scale, and potential prospects of the September 11 Russian counterattacks in Kursk Oblast are unclear and the situation remains fluid," analysts at the Institute for the Study of War think tank said in analysis Wednesday.

Russian forces may intend to temporarily bisect the Ukrainian salient — a military feature that extends into