Russia faces 'difficult fight' to retake Ukraine-held area

Russian President Vladimir Putin will mount a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, but Russian forces will encounter "a difficult fight," Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said on Wednesday.

Cohen told a national security industry conference that the significance of the Ukrainian incursion, which has overrun some 300 square miles (777 square km) of the Russian province, remained to be seen.

Ukrainian forces crashed through Russia's western border into the Kursk region on Aug. 6 in a surprise offensive that is continuing.

While Kyiv has said it has no intention of annexing the area it has captured, Ukrainian troops are building defensive lines and it appears that they intend to retain "some of that territory for some period of time," Cohen told the Intelligence and National Security Summit.