Bloodied Ukrainian soldiers risk losing more hard-earned territory in Kursk to Russia – National

Five months after its surprise attack on Russia, Ukrainian forces are bloodied and demoralized by the growing threat of defeat in Kursk, a region that some want to hold at all costs while others question the point of intervening at all.

The fighting is so intense that some Ukrainian commanders cannot evacuate the dead. Seven soldiers and front-line commanders said communication delays and poorly timed tactics had claimed so many lives that troops had little recourse to counterattack. Associated Press On the condition of anonymity so they can discuss sensitive operations.

Since being caught off guard by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has mobilized more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Exact figures are difficult to come by, but Moscow’s counterattack left thousands dead and wounded, and the exhausted Ukrainians lost more than 40 percent of the 984 square kilometers of Kursk they captured in August.

Its large-scale invasion three years ago left Russia in control of a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hinted that he hopes control of Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kiev, speaking on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters, said they feared the gamble in Kursk would weaken the entire 1,000-kilometre front line, and that Ukraine would lose valuable ground in the east.

“We have hit, as they say, a hornet’s nest. We have sparked another hotspot,” said Stepan Lutsev, a major in the 95th Airborne Brigade.

The raid on the border became an occupation

Army Commander Oleksandr Sirsky said Ukraine launched the operation because officials believed Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeastern Ukraine.

It began on August 5 with an order to leave the Sumy region of Ukraine for what they thought would be a nine-day raid to surprise the enemy. It has become an occupation welcomed by Ukrainians after their smaller country gained influence and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin.

One of the company commanders said to them, as he gathered his men: “We are making history; “The whole world will know about us because this has not happened since World War II.”

In his private life, he was less confident.

“It seemed crazy,” he said. “I didn’t understand why.”

The Ukrainians were shocked by the success achieved largely due to the Russians’ surprise, and were ordered to advance beyond the original mission to the city of Korenevo, 25 kilometers into Russia. This was one of the first places where Russian forces launched a counterattack.

By early November, the Russians began rapidly regaining territory. Once in awe of what they had accomplished, the troops’ views now change as they deal with casualties. The company commander said that half of his soldiers were killed or wounded.

Some front-line commanders said conditions were difficult, morale was low, and troops were questioning command decisions and even the basic purpose of occupying Kursk.

Another commander said that some of the orders his men received did not reflect reality due to delays in communications. He added that delays occur especially when territory is lost to Russian forces.

“They don’t understand where our side is, where the enemy is, what is under our control, and what is not under our control,” he said. “They do not understand the operational situation, so we act at our own discretion.”

One faction leader said that senior officials repeatedly rejected his requests to change his unit’s defensive position because he knew that his men could not hold the line.

“Those people who stand to the end end up MIA,” he said. He said he also knows of at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers whose bodies have been abandoned over the past four months because the fighting was so intense that they could not be evacuated without more casualties.

There is no option to back down as Russia doubles down

Ukrainian soldiers said they were not prepared for Russia’s aggressive response in Kursk, and could not counterattack or withdraw.

“There is no other choice. We will fight here because if we withdraw to our borders, they will not stop. They will keep advancing,” said one of the drone unit commanders.

The Ukrainian General Staff said Associated Press A written response to questions stated that Ukrainian combat units inflict losses on Russian military personnel and equipment on a daily basis, and are provided with “everything necessary” to carry out combat missions.

“Forces are managed according to situational awareness and operational information, taking into account the operational situation in the areas where missions are carried out,” the response stated.

Ukrainian forces said longer-range US weapons had slowed the Russian advance, and that North Korean soldiers who joined the fighting last month had become easy targets for drones and artillery because they lacked combat discipline and often moved in large groups in the open.

Zelensky said on Monday that 3,000 North Korean soldiers were killed and wounded. The soldiers added that they seem to be learning from their mistakes, by becoming more adept at camouflaging near forest lines.

A clash took place last week near Vorontsovo, a forested area located between the settlements of Kremin and Vorontsovo.

Until last week, the region was under Ukrainian control. This week, Russian forces lost part of it, and Ukrainian forces fear it will reach a vital logistical route.

As they look at the losses on the front lines in the eastern region known as Donbas – where Russia is closing in on an important supply hub – some soldiers are more vocal about whether Kursk is worth it.

“All the army can think about now is that the Donbass region has simply been sold,” the platoon commander said. “at all costs?”

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