Two weeks after the start of the Ukrainian army’s surprise offensive in the Kursk region, Francinfo visited the northeastern regions of the country to meet with soldiers trying to consolidate their territorial gains.
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/boris-loumagne-65007cf2eac8d593624457.png)
Published
Updated
Reading Time: 2 min
Ukraine is still trying to defend the positions captured by Russia in the Kursk region two weeks ago. In recent hours, Kyiv has gained more ground and now controls more than 1,000 square km of Russian land. In the northeast of Ukraine, a few kilometers from the front line, the Russian territories captured by the Ukrainians are very close. But the army denies Franceinfo special correspondents access.
To learn more about this operation, you should discreetly discuss it with the rare soldiers who agree to speak, such as Sergeant Djura. “We’re all very excited and we’re hungry because with this move, the enemy will finally suffer, and what’s more, it’s happening on their territory.”
Along with his men, this sergeant was one of the first to cross into Russia two weeks ago. “Our success was due to the carelessness of the Russians, their lack of preparation, their weak fortifications, and, in their posts, young soldiers doing their military service.” Djura says.
“When we entered their territories, we saw that the Russians had abandoned light armored vehicles, there were rocket launchers everywhere on the ground, and mortar shells scattered on the ground.”
Sergeant Zura, Ukrainian ArmyAt franceinfo
Many Russians have fled and others have been taken prisoner, but the move is far from over for the Ukrainians, as evidenced by the fact that these missiles were fired from their positions into Russia. On the front lines, the fight raged. The Russians are trying to regain lost positions.
:quality(50)/2024/08/18/thumbnail-image2-66c2634b973fb745557243.jpg)
Sherkhan is a soldier in an anti-tank regiment. “I just returned from there. We were in our positions in Russia, in the Kursk region. We controlled the roads so that they wouldn’t cross our borders. The Russians were a few kilometers away from us. They tried to attack us with kamikaze drones. , artillery… But we held, He assures. Our enemies have received material reinforcements. According to our intelligence teams, they also brought back Wagner and Chechen soldiers. Actually there are a lot of them. “
For Ukrainians, the challenge now is to retain these pieces of Russian territory. This is part of the work of military geniuses and men like Sergei. “We install protective barriers and mines, but we don’t just lay anti-tank mines, in line with the Geneva Conventions.”He assures.
At this time, the work was carried out from the beginning of the operation, the Russians did not manage significant counterattacks.
Ukrainian soldiers welcomed the attack on the Russian Kursk region. Report by Boris Luhmann.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”
