March 11th, 2025: Russian Troops Launch Sneak Attack In Kursk & Canada Gets A New Prime Minister
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What is the new tactic used by Russian forces in Kursk?
It's Tuesday, 11 March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Russian forces unveil a dangerous new tactic, sneaking through gas pipelines to ambush Ukrainian troops from behind. We'll break down what's happening in Kursk in Russia and why Ukrainian forces could be at risk of encirclement. Later in the show, a major shakeup in Canada. Mark Carney is set to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and prime minister. The new leader used his victory speech to take aim at President Trump. Plus, chaos erupts in Romania after a right-wing presidential candidate is barred from running. Supporters are clashing with police with claims of Russian interference once again at the center of the controversy. And in today's Back of the Brief, a Palestinian activist who led student protests at Columbia University has been arrested by federal immigration authorities. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
We'll begin with an update out of Eastern Europe, as Moscow's forces quickly advance inside Russia's partially occupied Kursk region, threatening Kiev's hold on its sole territorial bargaining chip at a crucial juncture in the war. Over the weekend, the Kremlin mounted a major counteroffensive aimed at recapturing the Kursk region from Ukraine. Now, as of Sunday, Russia's defense ministry said they'd managed to retake four settlements in a matter of days as their forces attempt to encircle a 10,000-strong Ukrainian garrison stationed in the region. That's according to a report from the Associated Press. As a reminder, Ukraine launched a military operation last August inside the Russian territory, catching the Putin regime by surprise.
At the time, they managed to seize roughly 500 square miles of territory, which Kiev intended to use as leverage in potential future negotiations with Moscow. But Russia has since mounted several counteroffensives, clawing back more than half of the area captured by Kyiv's military. Some 50,000 troops, supplemented by 12,000 North Korean soldiers, are once again on the move inside the territory, and reports say that Ukrainian forces have been forced into a steady, albeit controlled, retreat. Additionally, Russia has been using an elite drone unit to carry out a wave of strikes on the main road into Kursk, destroying hundreds of military vehicles used to resupply the Ukrainian garrison. In a bid to cut off a possible full retreat of Ukrainian forces, Moscow's forces have also destroyed several bridges in Kursk near the border with Ukraine.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and now deputy chairman of the country's Security Council, celebrated the developments, saying Sunday, quote, the lid of the smoking cauldron is practically closed, end quote, whatever that means. The renewed offensive push in Kursk was punctuated by a surprise attack over the weekend by Russian special forces near the town of Sudza, who crept for miles through a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear. Some Russian troops reportedly spent several days lying in wait inside the pipeline before making their move. But reports from Russian military bloggers and officials in Kyiv suggest the sneak attack did not achieve the results that the Kremlin was hoping for. Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers said the attack did indeed catch Ukrainian troops by surprise and that fighting in the area was intense, allowing Russia to gain a foothold on the outskirts of Sudzha.
But officials with the Ukrainian military said the Russian troops were, quote, detected in a timely manner and that their forces had quickly responded with rockets and artillery. An official with the Ukrainian military's general staff said, quote, At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked, and destroyed. The enemy's losses in Sudza are very high, end quote. Meanwhile, Oleksandr Sirsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, pushed back on claims that his troops were at risk of encirclement, saying the situation was largely under control. He framed the pullback of Ukrainian troops as a strategic move, saying, quote, the units are taking timely measures to maneuver to advantageous positions for defense, end quote.
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