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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 told The Associated Press 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 984 square kilometres (380 square miles) 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 hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.

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 1000-kilometer (621-mile) front line, and Ukraine is losing precious ground in the east.

“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.

The border raid that became an occupation

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 began on Aug. 5 with an order to leave Ukraine’s Sumy region for what they 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, 25 kilometres (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 were tough, morale was low and troops were 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 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...

Mandrian:
No winners in war. Only losers. End the war now!

Almiron:
Source: EconomicTimes

HelipsTech:
Ukrainians fighting for their lands by themselves, now watch how zombies would come to praise Putin who assembled fighters from his allies.

Putin exposed his weaknesses fighting Ukraine

Risingblue008:
I keep sayin it
Russia has d best army,airforce,navy in d world,forget wetin hollywood dey act for una,
U see russia aand china ehh for war matter united states no near dem as of now

puremaker7:
You are also free to be an ally to the Ukrainian side

greenermodels:
Hahahaha, this is a different story from what the Western Media is telling us in English language.

Almiron:
Source: EconomicTimes

puremaker7:
You are also free to be an ally to the Ukrainian side.

without free weapons from Ukrainian ally, Ukraine would have turned rubble by now

The point is there's no winner in a war

Bloodied Ukrainian Troops Risk Losing More Hard-won Land In Kursk To Russia by Almiron: 6:07pm
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,

HelipsTech:
You mean, North Korean armies or the armies he trafficked from Indians ?