The suspension of US intelligence sharing with Kyiv has left Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region nearly surrounded as Russian forces advance, effectively cutting them off from supply lines.

Ukraine had launched a surprise incursion into Kursk last summer, but the Ukrainian position in Kursk has deteriorated sharply in recent days, as indicated by open-source maps.

Russian troops have regained control of key areas, closing in on Ukrainian forces and threatening to entirely surround them.

Open-source mapping from Deep State, a Ukrainian military blog, revealed on Friday that approximately three-quarters of the Ukrainian forces operating inside Russia had now been nearly fully encircled.

According to the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet, Russia is attempting to sever supply routes, while Kyiv is working to “stabilize the situation,” citing a source within a military unit.

“The situation (for Ukraine in Kursk) is very bad,” Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, told Reuters. “Now there is not much left until Ukrainian forces will either be encircled or forced to withdraw.” 

The battlefield shift marks a significant setback for Kyiv, which had hoped to use its presence in Kursk as leverage in potential peace negotiations with Moscow.