According to documents obtained by the Ukrainian military and shared with The Guardian, Russia's military command foresaw Ukraine's August 6 incursion and failed to act on warnings from those in the region. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the reports.

Rightly embarrassed, Putin ordered the Kremlin to recapture Kursk by Oct. 1. And on Wednesday, Russian troops dutifully launched a counterattack along the western edge of the Ukrainian salient. “Russia's counteroffensive to drive Ukrainians out of the Kursk region has officially begun,” Finnish analyst Joni Askola announced.

"By transferring rather large and well-trained units to these border areas with us, the enemy weakened itself in key areas."

A close ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Western governments on Thursday that a nuclear war would ensue if they gave the green light for Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.

Russia said on Friday that its army would regain control of its Kursk region "in a timely manner", declining to say how soon this could be achieved.

There is an air of desperation around Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky these days as he tries to convince his Western allies, the United States in particular, that he has a realistic plan to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to give up his maximalist goals and sue for peace.

After two and a half years of war, nearly half of Russians support the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. This marks the highest level of support since February 24, 2022, according to The Moscow Times and other media sources.

Recent reports reveal that Russian officials had anticipated a potential Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region for months but failed to take adequate measures to prevent it. According to Hotnews documents seized by Ukrainian forces from abandoned Russian units,