More than two weeks have passed since the Ukrainian army launched a surprise incursion into Russias Kursk region.
The Aug.
6 offensive marks the first time since World War II that foreign troops have occupied Russian territory.According to DeepState UA, an open-source intelligence digital mapping service, the Ukrainian army has captured at least 646 square kilometers in the Kursk region.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, claims that 93 settlements have come under Ukrainian control, the largest of which is Sudzha, a town with a pre-war population of about 5,000 people.Founded in the late 17th century, Sudzha was originally a majority Ukrainian city within the Sloboda Ukraine region and served as the administrative capital of a Ukrainian Cossack unit.
Over the centuries, as Ukraine came under Russian imperial and later Soviet control, the city alternated between Ukrainian and Russian rule.Today, the town is the site of a key natural gas transit point on a pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.Here is a look at photos from Sudzha following Ukraine's capture of the town: