The Ukrainian army suffered a disaster in the Russian Kursk region. Soldiers described the scenes as from a horror film, the British television BBC reported, citing Ukrainian soldiers who requested anonymity.
Ukrainian soldiers tell of a disastrous withdrawal from Kursk under heavy Russian artillery fire and constant drone attacks. Columns of destroyed military vehicles are also reported.
Some soldiers speak of “panic“ and “collapse“ on the Kursk front, as Ukraine lost Sudzha, the largest city it held after its surprise invasion last summer.
“All the logistics [were concentrated] here on the Sudzha-Sumi highway. And everyone knew that [the Russians] would try to cut it off. But this was again a surprise for our command“, said one of the soldiers, who said that Ukrainian forces were surrounded on three sides.
Russia has mobilized significant forces to retake the Kursk region, including a large number of North Korean soldiers. Military experts estimate that Russia has mobilized a force of 70,000 soldiers to retake Kursk – including about 12,000 North Koreans. Russia has also sent its best drones to this part of the front.
A Ukrainian soldier, named Maxim, said the enemy had managed to destroy dozens of pieces of equipment and that the wreckage had "created traffic jams on supply routes". Another soldier - Anton - described the situation as catastrophic. He said supply routes had been cut off. "Logistics no longer work - organized deliveries of weapons, ammunition, food and water are no longer possible".
The Ukrainian soldier predicted that Ukraine's entire bridgehead in Kursk would be lost and that "from a military point of view, the Kursk sector has been exhausted." There is no point in supporting it any longer“.
Western sources estimate that around 12,000 soldiers took part in the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk. Kiev has sent some of its most elite units there, equipped with Western-supplied weapons, including tanks and armored vehicles.
Another soldier, Dmytro, says on social media that the roads in the Kursk region are littered with hundreds of destroyed Ukrainian cars and armored vehicles. There are also many casualties (the exact number is not specified).
Against this background, Kiev claims that there are no Ukrainian units surrounded in the Kursk region. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov denied claims “spread by Russian propaganda about the alleged encirclement of a large part of Ukrainian servicemen“ in the Russian Kursk region. “In order to preserve some of the resources and people, we regrouped in more favorable defensive positions“, the minister said.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region for the first time since the invasion began. The operation of the Russian armed forces in the Kursk region of Russia to push back Ukrainian troops, who last year launched a cross-border offensive there, is in its final phase, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced a few days ago.