On Aug.6, a powerful Ukrainian force invaded Kursk Oblast in western Russia and captured what is now a 250-square-mile salient anchored by the town of Sudzha. On Nov. 7, an equally powerful Russian force counterattacked—aiming to drive toward Sudzha along the main road threading from Zelenyi Shylakh on the western edge of the salient.

"Russia's own troops are not enough" to push Ukraine out of the Russian border region, Kyiv's top commander has said.

Ukraine has lost over 40 percent of the territory it previously gained in Russia's Kursk Oblast due to Russian counterattacks, Reuters reported on Nov. 23, citing a source in Ukraine's General Staff.