Ukrainian units in the Kursk region are “bled out and demoralized” due to the growing threat of defeat and the loss of occupied territories, according to AP, citing interviews with Ukrainian military personnel. Officials in the West and Ukraine fear that the “bet on Kursk” could weaken Ukraine’s positions along the entire 1,000-kilometer-long front line.
Fighting in the region has been ongoing for five months, and it has been so intense that the recovery of fallen Ukrainian soldiers is sometimes impossible, sources say. There are reports of communication problems, unfortunate tactical decisions, and limited opportunities for the Ukrainian army to launch counterattacks.
Some soldiers are questioning the value of the Kursk incursion in the face of losses and the Russian advance in the Donbas, AP quotes a Ukrainian unit commander as saying: “Everything they can think of now is, ‘The Donbas was just sold. But at what price?'”
Another commander tells AP that some military orders are not being carried out due to delays in communication: “They don’t understand where we are, where the enemy is, what’s under our control and what’s not. They don’t have an overview of the situation, so we’re acting on our own initiative.”
Despite this, Ukrainian soldiers say they will continue to fight, “because there’s no other option.” Russian troops will not stop advancing, but will keep pushing forward, if the Ukrainian army simply retreats to its borders.
In November, Reuters reported that the Ukrainian army had lost more than 40% of the territory it occupied in the Kursk region. US officials told Bloomberg that Ukrainian troops could lose the rest in the coming months, which would deprive Kiev of a “key lever” in possible negotiations with Moscow over a ceasefire.
After Ukraine’s military incursion into the Kursk region on August 6, the Russian Defense Ministry declared that the tempo of the offensive in the Donbas was increasing. According to Alexander Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, the operation in Kursk was intended to divert Russian forces from the Donetsk front, but this failed to happen.