Russia has withdrawn some troops from southern Ukraine and sent them back to its territory to try to prevent an escalating incursion by Kiev forces, a Ukrainian official said Tuesday, Politico reported. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that the Ukrainian forces continue their advance in the Kursk region of Russia and that they have advanced in depth one and two kilometers in various directions since the beginning of today.

Ukraine’s continued surprise attack has caused an uproar in Moscow, where Pres Vladimir Putin expressed his anger after capturing dozens of settlements and vast areas from Kiev in the Kursk and Belgorod regions of southern Russia. “Russia has also moved some of its units from the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions to southern Ukraine,” Dmytro Likovii, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, told Politico.

The Kremlin initially attacked the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of southern Ukraine in the first days of Putin’s wide-scale invasion in early 2022. Politico could not independently confirm how many Russian troops were deployed behind the border, though Likovii clarified that it was “ relatively small’ number of units. To try to counter Ukrainian territorial gains, Russian troops nevertheless continued their offensive in Pokrovsk and elsewhere in the Donetsk region of (eastern) Ukraine, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, in one of the “hottest” spots on the war front where Russia is gaining ground.

However, Lykovii added on Ukrainian television that Russia was moving personnel to “other directions, including Kursk.” Lithuanian Defense Minister Lavrinas Kasiunas said Russian troops had also been spotted leaving the Kaliningrad, according to a video posted on the Ukrainian president’s Facebook page. At a tense meeting in Russia on Monday, local authorities described to an exasperated Putin how Ukrainian units had overrun their meager defense forces in the south since last week, prompting mass evacuations nearly 200,000 people.

As Ukraine seized territory, Russian commanders initially downplayed the attack, insisting the military had things under control. But more than a week later, Ukraine is now at least in control 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. Russian authorities acknowledge that they have lost 28 communities and say that Ukrainian territorial gains extend to a zone 40 kilometers wide and 12 kilometers deep. “Our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region,” Zelensky said. “74 communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out. The development of humanitarian solutions for these areas continues.”

The invasion has boosted morale in Ukraine, which has been suffering from Putin’s full-scale invasion for two and a half years, while giving Western allies optimism as they want to see Kiev tilt the battlefield in its favor.

In Moscow on Monday, a Putin ally “wiggle your finger” at the Russian military for not standing ready to prevent a Ukrainian attack and added that Russian border troops were the last to receive information about the ongoing Ukrainian attack, leaving them little time to act. But even as they withdraw some units to Kursk, Russian forces have launched an offensive and started fighting across the war front in Ukraine, including in the south where troops have been withdrawn.

“However, the Russians have rallied large number of staff, especially in the Zaporizhia region, and the number of units that are redeploying is relatively small,” Likovii told Ukrainian TV. And indeed several attacks were launched in Kherson during the night where they withdrew some forces. “It remains to be seen whether this is a smokescreen activity,” Likovii added.

Ukraine crashed 17 out of 23 drones that were launched by Russia during a night attack that damaged infrastructure in several regions, the Ukrainian Air Force announced today Wednesday.

Russian forces also fired two Kh-59/69 cruise missiles at Ukraine, the Air Force said.

The attack damaged infrastructure in the northern regions of Chernihiv and Zhytomyr, but no casualties were reported, according to local authorities.

The Air Force shot down a drone in the southern region of Mykolayiv, regional governor Vitaly Kim said. The debris caused damage to two private homes, again with no casualties reported, he added.

It is noted that Ukrainian forces have reportedly reached Plekovo as shown in the relevant photo.