Bloodied Ukrainian soldiers risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia – National

Five months after their shock offensive in Russia, Ukrainian forces are bloodied and demoralized by the growing risk of defeat in Kurska region that some want to keep at all costs, while others value the entrance.

The battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders cannot evacuate the dead. Communications lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to mount counterattacks, seven frontline soldiers and commanders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they can discuss sensitive operations.

Since it was caught unawares by the lightning Ukrainian invasion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Exact figures are hard to come by, but Moscow’s counterattack has killed and wounded thousands and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more than 40 percent of the 984 square kilometers of Kursk they seized in August.

Its full-scale invasion three years ago left Russia holding a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kiev who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters said they fear gambling on Kursk will weaken the entire front line of 1000 kilometers, and Ukraine will lose precious ground in the east.

“We have, as they say, hit a hornet’s nest. We have raised another hot spot,” said Stepan Lutsiv, a major in the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade.

The border raid that became an occupation

Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine launched the operation because officials believed that 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 push the enemy. It became an occupation that Ukrainians welcomed as their smaller country gained leverage and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Gathering his men, one company commander told them: “We are making history; the whole world will know about us, because that hasn’t been done since the Second World War.”

Privately, he was less sure.

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

Shocked by the success that was achieved in large part because the Russians were taken by surprise, the Ukrainians were ordered to continue beyond the original mission to the town of Korenevo, 25 kilometers in Russia. That was one of the first places where Russian troops counterattacked.

In early November, the Russians began to rapidly regain territory. Once in awe of what they achieved, the troops’ opinions are now changing as they face losses. The company commander said half his troops were dead or wounded.

Some front-line commanders said conditions are tough, morale is low and troops are questioning command decisions, even the very purpose of occupying Kursk.

Another commander said some orders his men received did not reflect reality because of delays in communication. Delays occur especially when territory is lost to Russian forces, he said.

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

One platoon commander said higher-ups have repeatedly rejected his requests to change his unit’s defensive position because he knows his men can’t 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 were abandoned in the last four months because the battles were too intense to evacuate them without more casualties.

No option to retreat if Russia doubles down

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Ukrainian soldiers said they were not prepared for the aggressive Russian response in Kursk, and cannot counterattack or retreat.

“There is no other option. We will fight here because if we just retreat to our borders, they will not stop; they will continue,” said one commander of one drone unit.

The General Staff of Ukraine told The Associated Press in a written response to questions that Ukrainian combat units inflict losses on Russian personnel and military equipment on a daily basis, and are provided with “everything necessary” to carry out combat duties.

“Forces are managed in accordance with situational awareness and operational information, taking into account the operational situation in areas where tasks are carried out,” the response said.

Longer-range U.S. weapons have slowed Russian advances and North Korean soldiers who joined the fighting last month are easy targets for drones and artillery because they lack combat discipline and often move in large groups in the open, he said. Ukrainian troops.

On Monday, Zelenskyy said 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and wounded. But they seem to be learning from their mistakes, soldiers added, by becoming more adept at camouflage near forest lines.

One collision took place last week near Vorontsovo, a forest area between the settlements of Kremenne and Vorontsovo.

Until last week, the area was under the control of Ukraine. This week, part of it was lost to Russian forces and Ukrainian forces fear they will reach a crucial logistics route.

Seeing frontline losses in the eastern region known as the Donbas – where Russia is closing a crucial supply hub – some soldiers are more vocal about whether Kursk is worth it.

“All the military can think of now is that Donbas has just been sold,” the platoon commander said. “At what price?”

& copy 2024 The Canadian Press