Russia does not plan to transfer troops from eastern Ukraine to Kursk Oblast – Bloomberg

Russia does not plan to significantly transfer troops from eastern Ukraine to Kursk Oblast, reports Bloomberg with reference to an unnamed source close to the Kremlin.

According to him, the Russian military command decided not to redeploy significant forces from the front line in Donbas to help repel the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk Oblast.

A spokesman for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, and the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to Bloomberg's requests for comment.

Some Russian forces were withdrawn from Ukraine after the offensive in Kursk Oblast, although, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, they were unlikely to be front-line troops.

"The Kremlin may not be rushing to repel Ukrainian forces from the region and will instead continue to prioritize its offensive operations in eastern Ukraine," the report reads.

The Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast began on August 6, and the Ukrainian authorities did not officially comment on it for almost a week. On August 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially acknowledged it.

On August 15, Ukraine created the first military commandant's office in Kursk Oblast.

On August 20, army chief Oleksadnr Syrskyi said that Ukraine controls an area of 1,263 square kilometers and 93 settlements in Kursk Oblast.