One week in Kursk: Maps show evolution of Ukrainian incursion as Russia builds trenches

USA TODAY

On Aug. 6, Ukraine launched a historic raid across the Russian border destroying a convoy, capturing enemy soldiers, and repurposing enemy equipment as Russian territory fell rapidly under Ukrainian control. Ukraine appears to have struck a third bridge in their continued campaign to disrupt supply lines the Kursk region.

By Aug. 14, a video had aired on Ukraine's state television showing Ukrainian forces pulling down a Russian flag in Sudzha, a hub for gas shipments located about 6 miles from the international border with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine "liberated" Sudzha in an Aug. 15 post to X, formerly Twitter.

This is how Ukraine's area of operations in Kursk has expanded over the first week of the incursion:

Where are Ukrainian forces operating in Russia?

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How far did Ukraine's advances into Russia extend?

Speaking to the heads of Ukraine's foreign diplomatic missions on Aug. 19 in Dnipro, Zelenskyy said Kyiv's forces have taken control of 92 settlements and more than 480 square miles in Kursk. The invasion drove close to 200,000 Russians from their homes.

Where has Russia added defenses in response to Ukraine's incursion?

The offensive is creating tangible defensive, logistical, and security impacts within Russia, according to an assessment from the Institute for the Study of War. Newly dug field fortifications, including trenches and anti-vehicle ditches, have appeared to south and southwest of Lgov (northwest of Sudzha), about 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) north of the furthest limit of Ukraine's claimed advances. The war institute also reports that the new defenses suggest Russian forces are preparing for continued and rapid Ukrainian advances. Satellite images from Maxar show what appear to be new Russian trenches miles from the border:

Additional satellite images captured by Planet Labs before and after the Ukrainian offensive show another area where new Russian fortifications have appeared:

Where did Ukraine cross the border into Russia?

As Ukrainian forces moved into Kursk, they left behind damaged buildings at a border checkpoint and a gas metering station:

A video released on Facebook by Ukraine's 80th Air Assault Brigade shows a tank attacking a border checkpoint and multiple soldiers surrendering:

Reuters photographer Viacheslav Ratynskyi captured these historic images of Ukrainians driving U.S.-made HMMWVs, also known as Humvees, near a border crossing with Russia:

Where has Ukraine hit Kursk bridges?

Ukraine has struck and damaged three bridges over the Seym River in the Kursk region, according to Reuters. The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that U.S.-made HIMARS were used in an attack on a bridge in the Glushkovo district.

Did a Ukraine drone attack strike Russian airfields?

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR), and the Ukrainian military on Aug. 14 for conducting drone strikes against unspecified Russian air bases. While the war institute could not independently verify the results of the attacks, it cited Ukrainian outlet Suspilne's Aug. 14 report of drone strikes against Russian military air bases in Kursk City, Voronezh City, Borisoglebsk in Voronezh Oblast, and Savasleyka in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, which described them as the largest Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases since the war began. Satellite images captured by Planet Labs appear to show damaged aircraft hangars in Borisoglebsk:

What has Russia's response been?

Russia's initial response has been limited so far. Three U.S. officials, none of whom were authorized to speak publicly, described an under-prepared Russian military that may be constrained in its efforts to repel the Ukrainians by an overreliance on artillery. Russia has begun to move forces to confront the Ukrainian forces that now occupy as much as 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) in Kursk, according to one official. Among the reasons for the slow response is that Russian authorities don’t have a clear sense of what the Ukrainians are trying to do.

Russian military bloggers claim that Russian forces continued to repel Ukrainian attempts to cross the Kolotilovka border checkpoint in Belgorod Oblast, southeast of Sudzha and northwest of Belgorod City on Aug. 14, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

On Aug. 14, Zelenskyy met with Ukrainian officials who said they would use the seized territory as a buffer zone for self-defense and ensure the safety of the border area, according to the war institute. The war institute also cited an interview conducted by the independent Russian-language outlet Meduza with Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, who described the main political goals of the Kursk incursion: prevent Russian artillery from targeting Ukrainian civilians; disrupt Russian supply lines; bring attention to Russia's leadership failures; and take the war to Russian soil.

Ukraine may be digging in, according to Reuters: Oleksandr Syrskyi, head of the Ukrainian armed forces says Ukraine set up a military commandant's office in occupied Kursk, claiming the captured territory is greater than 1,150 square kilometers (444 square miles). Reuters also reports that Russian officials have called the Ukrainian attack a "terrorist invasion" targeting civilian infrastructure, which Ukraine denies.

Russia continues to advance in Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk Oblast, as of Aug. 19, according to The Institute for the Study of War.

Has this changed the conversation about the war?

Seth Jones, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told USA TODAY that the Ukrainian attack "has brought the war home to Russia in ways that Russia hasn't felt," at least not since "limited drone strikes in and around Moscow, including at the Kremlin." Jones described the Kursk operation as "a much larger ground incursion mixture of both air and ground forces."

According to Jones, this engagement represents "a whole different ball game for the Russians and especially for Valery Gerasimov. This is an embarrassing Ukrainian incursion and it's one where some of the Russian military bloggers have been raising questions about Asimov's competence as chief staff of the army. He's the senior-most uniformed general officer in the Russian military, and it does raise questions about his competence levels."

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, now a senior director at the Atlantic Council, told USA TODAY that the Kursk raid has been "a huge shot in the arm for Ukraine." Herbst described the conversation about the war over the weeks since the NATO summit as focused on a possible cease-fire or negotiations based on the notion that Ukraine must cede territory to end the fighting.

"This operation has kicked that talk out of the room. It doesn't mean it will not return, but it's also true that, as Ukrainians start to dig in, to retain at least part of the territory that it's taken, it raises the issue of Ukraine being in control of Russian territory as negotiations start, which is obviously a much better situation than existed a week ago."

Read more about the war in Ukraine:

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, Jorge L. Ortiz, Carlie Procell, USA TODAY.

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