Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead.
Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea.
Its full-scale invasion three years ago left Russia holding a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.
Nadiia, 43, a drone unit commander in Ukraine’s 82nd Brigade, poses with her Furia drone in Sumy region. Nadiia has been fighting inside of Kursk since August. (Photo: Serhiy Morgunov/ Getty Images)
“We have, as they say, hit a hornet’s nest. We have stirred up another hot spot,” said Stepan Lutsiv, a major in the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade.
Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine launched the operation because officials thought Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeast Ukraine.
It became an occupation that Ukrainians welcomed as their smaller country gained leverage and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Privately, he was less certain.
Shocked by success achieved largely because the Russians were caught by surprise, the Ukrainians were ordered to advance beyond the original mission to the town of Korenevo, 25 kilometers (16 miles) into Russia.
By early November the Russians began regaining territory rapidly.
The company commander said half of his troops are dead or wounded.
Another commander said that some orders his men have received don’t reflect reality because of delays in communication.
“They don’t understand where our side is, where the enemy is, what’s under our control, and what isn’t,” he said. “They don’t understand the operational situation, we so act at our own discretion.”
“Those people who stand until the end are ending up MIA,” he said.
A Ukrainian soldier cries on his comrade’s shoulder after returning from the Kursk region. (Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/ Libkos/ Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers said they were not prepared for the aggressive Russian response in Kursk, and cannot counterattack or pull back.
The AP requested comment from Ukraine’s General Staff but did not receive a response before publication.
On Monday, Zelenskyy said 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and wounded. But they appear to be learning from their mistakes, soldiers added, by becoming more adept at camouflaging near forested lines.
Until last week, the area was under Ukraine’s control. This week part of it has been lost to Russian forces and Ukrainian troops fear they will reach a crucial logistics route.
“All the military can think about now is that Donbas has simply been sold,” the platoon commander said. “At what price?”
With wires
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