Bloodied Ukrainian troops risk losing more hard-won land in Kursk to Russia

KYIV, Ukraine —  Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all.

Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack, seven front-line soldiers and commanders said on condition of anonymity so they could discuss sensitive operations.

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. Precise numbers are hard to obtain, but Moscow’s counterattack has killed and wounded thousands, and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more than 40% of the 380 square miles of Kursk they seized in August.

Russia holds 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, which started with a full-scale Russian invasion nearly three years ago. But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kyiv who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters said they fear gambling on Kursk will weaken the whole 621-mile front line, and Ukraine is losing precious ground in the east.

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

The border raid that became an occupation

Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine moved into Russia out of the belief that Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeast Ukraine.

It began on Aug. 5 with an order to leave Ukraine’s Sumy region for what officials thought would be a nine-day raid to stun 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’re making history; the whole world will know about us because this hasn’t been done since World War II.

Privately, he was less certain.

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

Shocked by the 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, 16 miles into Russia. That was one of the first places where Russian troops counterattacked.

By early November the Russians began regaining territory rapidly. Once in awe of what they accomplished, troops’ opinions are now shifting as they come to terms with losses. The company commander said half of 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 that some orders his men have received don’t reflect reality, because of delays in communication. Delays occur especially when territory is lost to Russian troops, he said.

“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.”

One platoon commander said higher-ups have repeatedly turned down his requests to change his unit’s defensive position because he knows his men can’t hold the line.

“Those people who stand until the end are ending up MIA,” he said. He said he also knows of at least 20 Ukrainian soldiers whose bodies had been abandoned over the last four months because the battles were too intense to evacuate them without more casualties.

No option to retreat as Russia doubles down

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

“There’s no other option,” said one drone unit commander. “We’ll fight here because if we just pull back to our borders, they won’t stop; they’ll keep advancing.”

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

“Troops are managed in accordance to situational awareness and operational information, taking into the account the operational situation in areas where tasks are performed,” the response said.

Ukrainian troops said that American longer-range weapons have slowed the Russian advance and that 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.

On Monday, Zelenskyy said 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed and wounded. But North Korean troops appear to be learning from their mistakes, the Ukrainian soldiers added, by becoming more adept at camouflaging near forested lines.

One clash took place last week near Vorontsovo tract, a forested area between the settlements of Kremenne and Vorontsovo.

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.

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

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

Kullab writes for the Associated Press.