The General Staff of the Armed Forces reported 138 battles at the front, the most intense attacks – in the Kursk direction

As of 4:00 p.m., 138 combat clashes took place at the front, the hottest now in the Kurshchyna, Pokrovsky, Kurakhivskyi and Vremivskyi directions. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in a telegram.

In the Pokrovsky direction, the Russian invaders made 27 attempts to dislodge the Ukrainian defenders from their occupied positions in the areas of Myrolyubivka, Promeny, Lysivka, Dachenskyi, Zeleny, Novovasylivka, Chumatskyi and Novoolenivka – the defense forces repelled 19 attacks, eight are still in progress.

According to the headquarters, in the Kurakhivsk direction, the Russian army attacked 14 times near the settlements of Sontsivka, Stari Terny, Kurakhove, and Dachne, and in Vremivsk, there were 15 Russian attacks near Kostiantynopolsky, Rozlyv, Velika Novosilka, Blagodatny, Novy Komar, and Storozhevo.

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“The operation is ongoing in the Kursk region. Enemy aviation continues to raze their villages and cities to the ground. Since the beginning of the day, Russian aircraft have carried out 14 strikes (17 KAB) on their own territory. “Ukrainian soldiers have repelled 36 enemy attacks today, the fighting continues,” the message reads.

There were also attacks in Kharkiv, Kupyansk, Lymansk, Siversk, Toretsk, and Orihiv directions.

As reported by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, as of December 17, the Defense Forces are conducting active combat operations on a section of the front with a total length of more than 1,170 kilometers, the most difficult situation now is in the Pokrovsky and Kurakhiv directions.

Sirskyi also reported on December 17 that the Russian military has been conducting “intense offensive actions” in the Kursk region for the third day, actively using units of the North Korean army.

In November, the Reuters agency, citing a high-ranking Ukrainian military source who works in the General Staff of Ukraine, reported that due to Russian counterattacks, Ukraine had lost more than 40% of the territory in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which it captured during hostilities in August. According to the source, Russia has deployed about 59,000 troops in the Kursk region.