Weekly Ukraine war summary: AFU moves to isolate Kursk Region’s Glushkovsky District, Ukrainian drones reach Murmansk, Pokrovsk evacuated

Roman Alekhin, an advisor to the acting governor of the Kursk Region, is urging residents of Rylsk, another district center, to evacuate immediately. Those who have already fled the conflict zone have described to The Insider a lack of organized evacuation efforts while noting that the flight of officials and law enforcement officers often occurred before civilians were warned of any impending danger. Residents of the affected Russian region also spoke of their attempts to find alternative information sources through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

Despite the transfer of various reserves (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), and after more than two weeks of fighting on Russian territory, the Russian Armed Forces have yet to form a grouping sufficient for a full-scale counteroffensive (The Insider recently estimated that Russia will need at least 30,000 troops to potentially expel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk Region). The Russian Defense Ministry continues to engage in ineffective media management, presenting old footage from Ukraine labeled as new strikes against the AFU in the Kursk Region. Nonetheless, many Ukrainian attacks really are being repelled, as evidenced by a video of close-range combat in the village of Russkaya Konopelka. Meanwhile, Russia is continuing to build rear defensive lines in the region, with Ukrainian forces attempting to disrupt these efforts by targeting construction equipment with FPV drones.