Ukraine says Russia ‘got its comeuppance’ after launching counterattack on border

Ukraine launched a counterattack in the Kursk region on Russia’s southern border, warning that Russia “got its comeuppance.”

Andriy Kovalenko, director of Ukraine’s official anti-disinformation center, said the Ukrainian army launched surprise attacks on multiple locations in Kursk, months after the invasion of the Kursk region.

“Good news, Kursk region, Russia got what it deserved,” Andriy Yermak, chief of the Ukrainian presidential office, said in a brief cable on Sunday.

Ukrainian forces first invaded Kursk in August and seized much of the territory, despite efforts by Russian and recently deployed North Korean troops to push Ukrainian forces back to the border.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a counterattack to thwart the Russian attack, state news agency TASS reported. Both armies were repulsed, the report said, adding that the Ukrainian attack, consisting of two tanks and seven armored vehicles, was defeated near the village of Beldin, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border.

CNN (CNN) was unable to verify reports from the battlefield.

The Kursk Offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War II. It caught Russian and Ukrainian allies by surprise when it was launched. Kyiv’s troops advanced rapidly, but Russia eventually began to push the troops back. There have been no major changes to the Line of Control in recent months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian troops had lost to a battalion of North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers in fighting near the village of Makhnovka. A battalion usually has hundreds of soldiers.

Russian unofficial military blogs, which often provide reliable reporting on the conflict in Ukraine, acknowledged Sunday’s fighting. One source said the Ukrainians were pushing north to Berdin.

“The enemy has committed its reserves to the offensive in the Kursk region,” said a blog on Sunday.

“To achieve a breakthrough, the AFU covered the area with powerful radio-electronic warfare systems, hampering the work of our drones [drones],” the blog said. “There is small arms fighting and our artillery and tanks are actively fighting the enemy.”

A second blog had a similar story, saying the offensive began in the Souza area, but that the Ukrainians also landed paratroopers and intensified fighting in other directions.

“During this offensive, the enemy used mine-sweeping trawls, tanks and other armored vehicles,” the blog wrote, adding that frosty ground made the attack possible, but this was not expected to last. It added that Russian bombers were on the move.

Ukrainian and Western assessments say about 11,000 North Korean troops are deployed in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have seized large swaths of territory after launching a cross-border incursion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to say when Russia would retake southern Kursk after being asked by phone at his year-end press conference last month.

“Our people are fighting, there is a fight going on right now, and a serious fight. It is not clear why the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not have the military sense to enter the Kursk region or to hold on there as they are now, putting their best troops were left there to be massacred,” Putin said.

One possible motivation for Kiev’s decision to enter Russia is to increase its own strength ahead of any potential future ceasefire negotiations.

Incoming US President Donald Trump said he would end the war “within 24 hours” but gave no details on how, and raised objections to future military aid to Ukraine.

Zelensky said last week that North Korean troops were facing serious losses and accused Russia of sending them into the battlefield with “minimum protection.”

CNN’s Rob Picheta, Gawon Bae, Victoria Butenko, Edward Szekeres and Kostyantyn Hak also contributed reporting.

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