Kursk
| Kursk
| |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Settled | 1032 (first mentioned) |
| Population | 415,159 |
| Area (sq mi) | 72.88 sq mi |
| Population density (/sq mi) | 5,700 |
Kursk is a city in western/central Russia. It is famous for the Battle of Kursk between the Nazis and the Soviets.
On August 6, 2024, NATO and Ukraine proxies invaded Kursk.
1943 Battle of Kursk
- See also: Battle of Kursk and Cherkassy-Korsun Pocket
The Battle of Kursk in 1943 during World War II was the largest tank battle in history. The elite tactical units of Nazi Germany participated in the battles in the Kharkov, Belgorod and Kursk regions. And the SS Division "Leibstandarte SS" before the war was personally subordinated to Hitler. Then, immediately after the capture of Kharkov, the Germans with the reinforced remnants of the company of heavy tanks "Tiger", made a dash along the Kharkov-Kursk highway, as a result of which on March 17, 1943 they captured Belgorod. German forces attempted to encircle Soviet forces in the Kursk Salient on the eastern front, but strong Soviet resistance defeated the German assault. Kursk was the last German offensive of any strategic significance in the East; henceforth, they would conduct a fighting retreat. Germany already suffered from a grave shortage of war resources, when Hitler ordered the offensive and lost a huge number of tanks such as the new Tigertank and the Panther.
According to Colonel General and military historian Grigoriy Krivosheev, total Soviet casualties for the Kursk Strategic Defensive Operation (July 5-23, 1943) amounted to 177,847 with KIAs and MIAs count being 70,330. After that, Strategic Offensive Operation Kutuzov started (July 23-August 18, 1943), with total casualties resulting in 429,890, with KIAs and MIAs count being 112,529. From July 5 to August 18, 1943 in the two operations combined, the Red Army sustained 607,737 casualties, with total of KIAs and MIAs being 182,859.
2024 NATO Kursk invasion
- See also: Operation Barbarossa and 2024 NATO invasion of Kursk
The operation was conducted in line with the latest developments of American military doctrine, namely the doctrine of multi-domain operations. The essence of the multi-domain operation is that the object of attack is not only the enemy's armed forces, but also the entire environment in which they operate. Multi-domain operations combine classical warfare with cyber attacks, information and psychological operations, and control in cyberspace. American fingerprints were all over the invasion.
On August 8, 2024, at the end of the first 24 hours of the invasion, the infrastructure of mobile operators in the Kursk region was subjected to the most powerful cyber attack. At this point, civilian communications were critical not only for evacuating civilians but also for interaction between military units. Since NATO had overwhelmed military communications with their EMP, and all communication was only able to go through personal devices, NATO forces also monitored troop movements through online cameras of Russian residents found on their properties. From the first hours of the invasion, the Ukrainians and NATO mercenaries used terror tactics and attacked civilians, systematically shooting cars with fleeing refugees on the roads.
The purpose of terror tactics was to force local residents to stay in their homes in order to, on the one hand make it more difficult for Russian aircraft to strike at invading units in populated areas, and on the other hand to make it easier for the NATO forces to take hostages. It is not unusual for Ukrainians to use civilians as human shields, but by the third day the NATO terror tactics changed. The Center for Information and Psychological Operations of Ukraine began to encourage a large-scale flight of the population from areas where there was no fighting. Ukrainians, pretending to be officers of the Russian Armed Forces, made calls to local residents and disinformation on social media networks grew rampant. The strikes on the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant were intended by the Ukrainians to sow chaos and panic. Thus disorganizing the situation in the rear for Russian units trying to put together a defense.
The Russian National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) launched the largest ever counter-terror operation in Russian history with its emergency declaration: "The Kiev regime made an unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in a number of regions of our country...The terrorist attack on the territory of the Kursk region by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resulted in casualties among the civilian population and the destruction of homes and other civilian facilities...In order to ensure the safety of citizens and stop the threat of terrorist acts that could be carried out by the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance formations, the National Antiterrorism Committee Chairman and Russian Federal Security Service Director, Alexander Bortnikov, decided to conduct counterterrorism operations in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions starting from 9 August 2024".[1] As a consequence of invoking a counter-terror operation, there is no statute of limitations for prosecution of anyone involved in terrorism, meaning anyone involved in the "incursion", including NATO planners. Alexey Dyumin, the new secretary of the State Council, was appointed the overseer of the whole military/civilian response.
