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.

Kyiv’s surprise campaign has captured hundreds, if not thousands, of prisoners of war (POWs). This success is the result of Moscow’s decision to send poorly trained and ill-disciplined units to the front and the surprise factor of the Ukrainian blitz.

Russia's counterattack in Kursk Oblast aiming to retake Ukrainian-held territory has been stopped, a spokesperson of the Ukrainian military administration in the region told AFP on Sept. 18. The statement comes a week after Moscow launched a counteroffensive against the western flank of Ukrainian troops in the Russian region.