how Ukrainians and Russians fight over Kursk

The new offensive of the Ukrainians in the Russian Kursk region has so far remained unsuccessful. Reporting from where both sides are trying to improve their negotiating positions ahead of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Kurt Pelda, Kursk Oblast / ch media

It is difficult to obtain information about the new Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. If Russian media suggest that the action ended in disaster, for their part, the Ukrainians claim to have repelled a Russian counterattack. To get an objective idea of ​​the situation, you have to go to Kursk.

It was still dark when we set off in an army vehicle. The thermometer shows minus eight degrees. The soldier who drives us comes to pick us up on time, with a Japanese pick-up in pitiful condition. But at least our life insurance is up to the roof: five jammers that keep us away from Russian combat drones.

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Jammers and anti-drone cages everywhere

Driving on snowy and icy roads, you quickly realize that the region on either side of the Russian border resembles a huge military camp. Wherever there is some cover, Ukrainian military vehicles and tanks are parked, sometimes hidden under huge camouflage nets. And many army vehicles are equipped with jammers.

Powerful electronic defense measures gave the Russians a tough time at Kursk when the Ukrainians launched a surprise offensive on January 5. However, Moscow’s armed forces now use drones that are no longer controlled by radio signals, both in Kursk and in Ukrainian combat zones. These rather slow and unwieldy machines are equipped with a container which unwinds a fiber optic cable. Video and control signals are thus transmitted directly between the pilot and the drone, which makes jammers ineffective.

At the border post, Ukrainians in uniform wave us along. An imposing American Abrams battle tank zooms past. Its turret is reinforced with additional armor and anti-drone cages to increase its chances of survival in the event of drone fire.

We also see an old Ukrainian battle tank pushing two huge rollers in front of it. This is a minesweeper, used as the lead vehicle during attacks to open a passage through Russian minefields.

Shortly after the border, we arrive at a roundabout with a large Orthodox cross. It reads in Russian: “Lord, save and preserve Russia.” The Ukrainians attached their flag to the cross and installed a decorated Christmas tree next to it. In Ukraine, the Christmas and New Year period lasts from December to mid-January.

Russian territory under Ukrainian control halved

The capital of the Soudja district is the only large Russian locality conquered by the Ukrainians in August and preserved since. But south of the city, the Russians have since closed to within just a few kilometers. All Russian territory controlled by Ukrainians has been reduced by more than half in recent months.

There is, however, a difference between Soudja (and the surrounding towns) and the villages and towns attacked by Russia in Ukraine: although many bullet-riddled buildings can be seen there, the extent of the destruction remains limited. Thus, in the outlying neighborhoods of Soudja, most of the houses remained intact, including the windows. It is different in the localities bombed by the Russians in Ukraine. It seems that Moscow’s military command is reluctant to destroy cities on its own territory as ruthlessly as it does in Ukraine.

Indeed, a few Russians still live in Soudja. They painted the Russian word for “people” on the walls of their homes to signal that they were civilians. Other buildings, abandoned apartments, are marked with the word “occupied” and a white triangle, the distinctive sign of the Ukrainian invading force. Soldiers have settled there.

A Putin doll hanging by the side of the road

We had already been to Soviet Square in the city center in August, during a journalists’ trip supervised by Ukrainian soldiers. The square, with its statue of Lenin torn down by the Ukrainians, is now snow-covered and deserted. We hear the metallic whir of a small drone; it is not known whether he is Russian or Ukrainian. We wait inside a house until the noise goes away.

Next to the base of the Lenin statue, the Ukrainians hung a life-size doll from the roof of a stage. She wears a Russian uniform and a Putin mask. On the base of the stand, the Ukrainians wrote in English:

At the edge of Place des Soviets is a household appliances store. In summer it was still well stocked with refrigerators, washing machines and stoves. Most have since disappeared. Private homes were also looted. A rusty crowbar still sits outside a forced garage, and everything inside has been trashed.

In mid-November, the Russian Minister of Transport and former governor of the Kursk oblast, Roman Starovoyt, announced that Russian soldiers and civilians had also committed looting. In the cases we see in Soudja, it cannot be Russian soldiers, since they fled in August and have not yet returned. So they are either Ukrainians or Russian civilians. As we inspect another garage that has been breached, we hear artillery fire and sounds of combat, just south of Soudja.

Drawing drinking water from the well

We head towards the noise of the fighting to the town of Samoste. But it becomes too dangerous, we turn around and head back north. We come across Ukrainian tanks, most of them relatively modern Western models. kyiv deploys its most experienced and best-equipped units to Kursk.

It is also a question of making this small area on Russian territory a pledge in future negotiations with Trump and Putin. Conversely, the Russians are doing everything to drive the Ukrainians from their national territory. But so far they have not succeeded, despite help from North Korea.

On the side of the road, we see around twenty destroyed armored vehicles and cars, many of which were hit by drones. Russian propaganda claims that the Ukrainians lost almost 4,000 armored vehicles, trucks and artillery systems at Kursk. During our brief trip we cover a larger area and when counting destroyed vehicles we do not arrive at the same number issued by Moscow. But it is undeniable that Ukraine suffered considerable losses at Kursk.

In the village of Kazachya Loknya, right next to the church, we meet an elderly man who is filling cans of water from a well. He places the full containers on a wheelbarrow. Viktor seems quite confident about the fact that a nearby Ukrainian artillery piece is constantly firing at the Russians to the east. The Russians responded with shells falling near the church.

And for good reason, the Russians are trying to find the position of the Ukrainian artillery and hit it.

Viktor explains that civilians receive bread from Ukrainians every day and that there is humanitarian aid.

However, the statements of civilians in the occupied territories should be taken with a pinch of salt. Our conversation quickly ends when a Russian shell whistles close and explodes not far from the well. Viktor grabs his wheelbarrow and thanks us for the salami we gave him.

On the way back, we pass a burning Ukrainian military vehicle. He was hit by a drone. The traces of the explosion are still clearly visible. The vehicle probably drove without a jammer. Ukrainian security services have banned us from publishing images of military vehicles or soldiers.

On the ground, it is clear that the Ukrainian offensive was not a success. kyiv’s tanks certainly advanced a little towards the northeast, but the Russians attacked almost simultaneously to the west. Despite the Ukrainians’ initial gains, the occupied territory ultimately shrank by around 12% to reach an area of ​​just over 400 square kilometers.

Translated from German by Anne Castella