Common Questions

When did Ukraine invade Kursk Oblast?: Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast in August 2024, seizing an estimated 1,200–1,300 km² at its peak — the first foreign occupation of Russian territory since World War Two.Source: ISW
Why did Ukraine attack Kursk if it was losing territory elsewhere?: Ukraine's Kursk operation aimed to force Russia to divert troops from the Donetsk axis, demonstrate the war extended to Russian soil, and create leverage for eventual peace negotiations by holding Russian territory.
How much Russian territory does Ukraine still hold in Kursk?: Ukraine's initial gains of 1,200–1,300 km² were largely reversed by Russian and North Korean forces. By May 2026, the Kursk incursion served primarily as a historical benchmark for measuring Russian territorial momentum.Source: ISW
What is the significance of Kursk in the Russia-Ukraine war?: Kursk became the first Russian territory occupied by a foreign army since 1945. ISW uses the August 2024 incursion as the baseline for measuring Russian net territorial change, making it the defining reference point in the war's momentum narrative.Source: ISW

Background

Kursk Oblast became the first Russian territory held by a foreign army since World War Two when Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border incursion in August 2024. Ukraine seized an estimated 1,200–1,300 km² at the operation's peak, establishing a foothold that it held for several months before Russian and North Korean forces pushed back. The Kursk operation served as Ukraine's most significant strategic gambit of the war: forcing Russia to divert frontline units away from the Donetsk axis and signalling that the conflict was not confined to Ukrainian territory.

The oblast sits in Russia's south-western Central Federal District, bordering Sumy Oblast in Ukraine to the south and Belgorod Oblast to the east. It is predominantly agricultural with a population of roughly 1.1 million and hosts one of Russia's major nuclear power plants. General Gerasimov cited protecting Kursk and Belgorod from Ukrainian cross-border raids as the explicit rationale for Russia's March 2026 buffer-zone push into Ukrainian Sumy Oblast.

By May 2026, the Kursk incursion served as the benchmark against which Russian territorial progress is measured. ISW assessed on 3 May that Russia suffered its first net territorial loss since the Kursk incursion, with April 2026 gains of just 116 km² net — demonstrating that Ukraine's 2024 offensive reshaped both the physical and analytical landscape of the war.

Source Material

Kursk Oblast

How the World Sees Them

Russia

Moscow views the Kursk incursion as an act of terrorism on sovereign Russian soil. The buffer-zone operation into Sumy was presented as the direct defensive response.

Ukraine

Kyiv frames Kursk as proof that the war is not solely defensive — a strategic lever to divert Russian forces and demonstrate that peace terms cannot ignore Ukrainian leverage.

Western allies

NATO partners viewed Kursk with cautious concern about escalation but did not object; most assessed it as strategically coherent even as Ukrainian frontline positions deteriorated.