Battle of Kursk guns and mortars. In 1943 an offensive by the Soviet Central, Bryansk and Western Fronts against Army Group Centre was abandoned shortly after it began in early March, when the southern flank of the Central Front was threatened by Army Group South. Soviet intelligence received information about German troop concentrations spotted at Orel and Kharkov, as well as details of an intended German offensive in the Kursk sector through the Lucy spy ring in Switzerland. The Soviets verified the intelligence via their spy in Britain, John Cairncross, at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, who clandestinely forwarded
Kursk municipal division, the city of oblast significance of Kursk is incorporated as Kursk Urban Okrug. In addition to its importance as an administrative hub, Kursk is important as an industrial centre. Activity focuses on iron based industry, the chemical sector and a large food processing industry, reflecting the richness of agriculture in the surrounding "Black Earth" region. Particularly noteworthy is the so-called Kursk Magnetic Anomaly "(Russian: Курская магнитная аномалия)", the world's largest known iron-ore reserve, where the iron content of the ore ranges from 35% up to 60%. In Kurchatov, some to the south-west, is the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant,