Vladimir Putin has been forced to deploy a regiment of Russia's Aerospace Forces in a desperate bid to push back on Ukrainian forces, a Russian investigative outlet has claimed. The so-called "space troops" had been redeployed to the border region of Kursk to push back against the ongoing incursion into Russian territory, the independent Important Stories reported. The outlet claimed a motorized rifle regiment of the Aerospace Force, which includes engineers, mechanics and servicemen from a Russian spaceport, was redeployed to the region last week.
The Force was established earlier this year and also includes personnel previously stationed at radar stations in the Voronezh region and controlling Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Ukraine has so far seized control of dozens of settlements across 1,150 square kilometres of the Kurks region, according to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Volodymyr Zelensky's troops have shown no signs of slowing down since they launched their attack on August 6 - snatching more territory in the region that Russia has since the start of the year.
The incursion also marks the first time a foreign force has breached Russian sovereignty since Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in 1941.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the incursion into Kursk took Russia by surprise and resulted in the redeployment of troops from the Ukrainian front back into the region.
They said: "Russian forces have redeployed additional forces to Kursk Oblast since the first week of the Ukrainian incursion and have likely redeployed more than 5,000 personnel to Kursk Oblast overall."
Kyiv previously said little about the goals of its push into Russia with tanks and other armoured vehicles.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions, facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic as tens of thousands of civilians fled.
Analysts say that although Ukraine could try to consolidate its gains inside Russia, it would be risky, given Kyiv's limited resources, because its supply lines extending deep into Kursk would be vulnerable.
The incursion has proven Ukraine's ability to seize the initiative and has boosted its morale, which was sapped by a failed counteroffensive last summer and months of grinding Russian gains in the eastern Donbas region.
For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while visiting China in May that Moscow's offensive that month in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region was aimed at creating a buffer zone there.
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