Ukraine Launches New Offensive against Russian Forces

Ukraine has reportedly launched a new offensive operation against Russian forces, amid the ongoing war between the two nations.

On Friday, the Kyiv Post reported that Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade shared a post on Telegram detailing how they have executed several successful attacks against Russian forces in the Kharkiv Oblast.

“The main task of the operation was to knock down the offensive potential of the 20th army of the Russian Federation. For the time being, this task has been accomplished,” Colonel Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade, said in the Telegram post.

According to the Telegram post, Russia has lost 300 troops, “and a significant amount of equipment and weapons were destroyed or damaged” during the brigade’s offensive operation in Kharkiv.

“The uniqueness of the operation was that we attacked a superior enemy and emerged victorious,” Biletskyi said, crediting the success to planning, artillery, anti-aircraft defense and intelligence.

Biletskyi added, “But the heroes of the battlefield were tankers, sappers, scouts and, first of all, attack aircraft.”

The offensive operation in Kharkiv comes after Ukraine launched a similar attack in the Russian border region of Kursk.

Earlier in the month, Ukraine launched the surprise offensive operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast as war continues to rage between the two nations since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Thousands of Russians have been evacuated from Kursk and the surrounding regions, while armed clashes intensify across southwestern Russia following Ukraine’s unexpected cross-border raid.

Ukrainian forces have gained fresh momentum in recent weeks following the delayed arrival of U.S. weaponry. On Thursday, Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk shared a video on social media saying that glide bombs provided by the U.S. were used by Ukraine in their recent offensive operation in Kursk.

Earlier this week, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, issued a warning to Ukraine following their offensive operation in Kursk.

Zakharova said that the operation has ended “any possibility” of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

“Who will negotiate with them after this, after the atrocities, the terror that they are committing against peaceful residents, the civilian population, civilian infrastructure and peaceful facilities,” Zakharova said, per the Associated Press (AP).

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the main objective of the operation in Kursk is to “destroy as much Russian war potential as possible,” the Kyiv Independent reported.