Photos distributed by Russian state media showed bent, mud-covered soldiers moving by lamplight in the pipe of a stopped gas pipeline. The operation aims to strike behind Ukrainian lines in the Kursk region.
This was a covert operation, which ended with brilliant success according to Russian media or with heavy losses according to Ukrainian media, in the Russian region bordering Ukraine, which the Ukrainian army attacked in a surprise offensive in August 2024.
Ukrainian forces controlled hundreds of square kilometers of the region, but the recent advance of Russian forces has raised concerns about an imminent withdrawal, and with it the loss of territories that Ukraine intended to use as "bargaining currency" in future peace talks with Moscow.
"The enemy is retreating in panic and disorder. "This is a rout," a soldier nicknamed "Zombie," the commander who led the daring operation to cross the gas pipeline, told Russian television.
According to him, it allowed about 800 Russian soldiers to pass through the pipe and penetrate behind Ukrainian lines, which ultimately allowed the capture of several cities.
On Monday, Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrsky assured that the situation was "under control" and ordered reinforcements to be sent.
However, a Ukrainian soldier who oversees the operations of his unit stationed in Kursk told AFP that the Russians "have scattered around the area", "blocking roads" and "blow up bridges", significantly hindering the movement of Kiev's forces.
"A new type of drone"
According to the military blog "DeepState", which is close to the Ukrainian army, the territories occupied by Ukraine in this area have decreased by more than a third in less than two days.
In mid-February, Ukraine still claimed to control 500 sq. km of the Kursk region, compared to 1,400 sq. km at the beginning of its operation. According to the British Ministry of Defense yesterday, this figure had been reduced to 300 sq. km.
At the same time, videos appeared on social networks showing Ukrainian soldiers surrendering. According to Russian military correspondents, Moscow's troops were at the gates of Sudzha, a small town that represents the leading Ukrainian position in the Kursk region, yesterday.
In recent days, observers have expressed alarm that the only supply routes for Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region have come under Russian fire.
Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst interviewed by AFP, confirmed that in recent weeks Moscow had reinforced its contingent in Kursk and stepped up its strikes on the remaining "fragile" route used by Ukrainian logistics.
"Now the Russians are pressing hard. Some parts of the front line are giving way," he explained.
A Ukrainian soldier, who has been stationed in Kursk for a long time, told AFP on Monday that his unit "fortunately" was withdrawn five days earlier, describing the situation as "very" serious.
The serviceman, who leads his unit's operations in Kursk, confirmed that logistics and supplies have become a major problem over the past month.
According to him, the reason for this was the dominance of Russian fiber-optic drones - a new type of aircraft that uses a long cable, making them resistant to electronic jamming.
"The evacuation of the wounded and dead and the supply of ammunition, provisions and equipment were possible" only in "thick fog", he explained, speaking of "shortages of everything": ammunition, food, water, etc. n.
"In the last few days, that was the end (...) We started to get out of there, because if we hadn't, we would have been surrounded", he added.
Lever for applying pressure
The Kursk offensive gave Ukraine the opportunity to transfer the fighting to Russian territory, take prisoners to be exchanged for detained Ukrainians, or force Moscow to weaken the front in Donbas in order to strengthen the one in Kursk region.
Kiev also hoped to be able to exchange conquered territories for areas occupied by Moscow, which controls about 20% of Ukraine.
However, many analysts were skeptical from the very beginning, given that Russian pressure on the eastern front did not decrease, and Moscow benefited in the Kursk region - according to Kiev, Seoul and the West - from the support of thousands North Korean soldiers.
However, analyst Franz-Stephan Gadi does not believe there is a connection between the temporary freeze of US aid to Kiev these days and the developments in the Kursk region. "This is about a difficult situation that was already difficult", he sums up.
Translated from French: Assen Georgiev, BTA