Kusk [Ukraine], September 14: Ukraine launched a surprise attack in Kursk on August 6 and after about a month, the country announced that it had controlled about 1,300 square kilometers of Russian territory.
But that outcome comes at a high price. Ukrainian soldiers recently told CNN that the situation is getting more difficult.
A wounded soldier named Vasyl said he had sharp metal fragments stuck in his leg after an explosive-laden unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacked him while he was fighting in Russia.
"Everything happened very quickly. We ran into the woods and then there was a loud explosion just 1-2 meters away from me," said Vasyl, who is in hospital in Ukraine . Another soldier said his four-man unit was one of the first to enter Russia, responsible for clearing mines and dismantling Russian defenses. He said he worked non-stop for two weeks. Working in unfamiliar territory made the task even more difficult.
However, Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskiy last week and President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 13 said the operation had achieved the desired result of slowing down Russia's advance in eastern Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said Russia had counterattacked in Kursk but had not achieved much success. At the same time, he said Russia had about 40,000 troops on the Kursk front, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on the same day that it had retaken 10 of the 100 villages that Ukraine had controlled. All 14 Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by CNN, four of whom were wounded, said the situation in Kursk was getting more difficult. All said the casualty rate was similar to other areas on the front line.
Some have questioned the decision to launch the operation while Ukraine is struggling to defend key areas in the east.
"We have a lot of dead comrades and we have a lot of destroyed weapons," said Mr. Vasyl, predicting the situation would be more difficult with very large battles as Russia mobilized more troops and artillery to the area.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper