Russia moves troops from Kaliningrad to Kursk to repel Ukraine attack: official

Russia has moved troops from the isolated European enclave of Kaliningrad to the border region of Kursk to help defend against a Ukrainian incursion, according to Lithuania.

“We are now seeing how they are redeploying their troops from Kaliningrad to Kursk,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a statement. Tuesday meeting.

“I say to the Lithuanian people: look how the Ukrainians are fighting for you,” he continued. “They are achieving very important things, and this is a very good move, and it is a completely new page.”

The Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania along the Baltic coast is home to the Russian Baltic Fleet. It is estimated that Kaliningrad had around 30,000 soldiers stationed there before the war in Ukraine, but some of them have since been transferred to the battlefield.

It is unclear how many were transferred to Kursk, where Ukrainian troops caught Russia by surprise in an August 6 counterattack in the Russian region.

One of the main objectives of the Ukrainian attack on Kursk is to redirect Russian troops from the front lines of eastern Ukraine to ease pressure there, but there are no signs that Moscow has ordered a major redeployment from those regions.

Still, a Ukrainian army spokesperson, Dmytro Lykhova, told a local media outlet Tuesday that Russia redeployed troops from Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, although the “intensity” of fighting in the region has not changed.

The New York Times reported Wednesdayciting a US official, that Russia had redeployed some troops from Ukraine, although there were few details.

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to comment on specifics at a Tuesday briefing.

“It’s something we’re keeping an eye on,” he said of possible Russian relocations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met Wednesday with Kaliningrad’s acting governor Alexei Besprozvannykh, said Monday he would not let Kiev reduce Russia’s gains in eastern Ukraine.

“The pace of offensive operations by the Russian Armed Forces, volunteers and veterans not only remained stable, but actually increased by fifty percent,” Putin said at the meeting. “Our troops are advancing all along the front.”

Ukraine captured nearly 400 square miles in Kursk and seized about 74 settlements in the Russian border region, according to Ukrainian officials. Troops continue to advance as Russia struggles to retreat.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story