New updates from the Russian frontlines have shown that Ukraine's advances into the Kursk region have made progress.
According to reports from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) mapped by Newsweek, Ukrainian forces pushing into the northeast have maintained a strong military presence in the Kursk region following the initial success of the offensive.
The map shows a small region along the northern border, outlined in blue, where the Ukrainian military has carved out a region of land within Russia. The ISW, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, has been tracking the progress of the offensive since early August.
Key parts of Russian military infrastructure within Kursk, such as pontoon bridges along the River Seym, have come under fire from Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), dismantling parts of Russia's attempt to counter the offensive.
The cross-border raid on August 6 caught Russian forces by surprise, marking the first time that foreign troops had seized Russian territory since World War II.
Ukraine claims to have seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year.
In roughly 24 hours, Ukraine's forces overwhelmed two major lines of fortifications in the Kursk region that took Russia over two-and-a-half years and more than $170 million to build, according to Russian investigative site Agentstvo.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine controlled at least 80 settlements in Kursk.
Newsweek is unable to independently verify the claims and has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.
Despite transferring reserves to the border region, Moscow has struggled to stop Ukraine's advances and Kyiv says it is consolidating its footprint across the border.
Rather than permanently holding Russian territory, Ukraine has said that the offensive is designed to cut off Russian logistics supporting the war effort and shield its territory from potential aerial attacks.
Another map by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed that Ukrainian forces had reached the town of Dmitriukov, and were advancing toward Kucherov.
To counter the offensive, the Russian military has deployed additional troops and equipment, including tanks, rocket launchers, and aviation units.
However, reactions among the Russian media to the move from Kyiv have been of shock, with state TV host Sergey Mardan branding the situation as "chaos", saying: "According to the scarce, unverified comments that I would doubt 10 times over, all of this resembles chaos—a word that members of the military don't like."
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