Ukrainian troops talk about catastrophe and panic

The Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kursk region of Russia have described scenes “as a horror movie” while they retired from the front lines.

The BBC has received extensive accounts of the Ukrainian troops, which have a “catastrophic” withdrawal in front of heavy fire, and columns of destroyed military equipment and constant attacks of swarms of Russian drones.

The soldiers, who spoke on social networks, received alias to protect their identity. Some gave accounts of a “collapse” when Ukraine lost to Sudzha, the largest city he had.

Ukrainian restrictions on trips to the front have meant that it is not possible to obtain a complete image of the situation. But this is how they described five Ukrainian soldiers what had happened.

On March 9, “Volodymy” sent a telegram post to the BBC saying that it was still in Sudzha, where there was “panic and collapse of the front.”

Ukrainian troops “are trying to leave: columns of troops and equipment. Some of them are burned by Russian drones along the way. It is impossible to leave during the day.”

The movement of men, logistics and teams had depended on an important route between Sudzha and the sumy region of Ukraine.

Volodymyr said it was possible to travel on that road relatively safely a month ago. For March 9, everything was under the control of the enemy’s fire: drones throughout the day. In a minute you can see two or three drones. That’s a lot, “he said.

“We have all the logistics here on a sum of Sudzha. And everyone knew that the (Russians) would try to cut it. But this was again a surprise for our mandate.”

At the time of writing, just before Russia resumed Sudzha, Volodymyr said the Ukrainian forces were being pressed three sides.

For March 11, the Ukrainian forces were fighting to prevent the road from cutting, according to telegram messages of “Maksym”.

“A few days ago, we received an order to leave the defense lines in an organized retirement,” he said, and added that Russia had accumulated a significant force to resume the city, “including a large number of North Korean soldiers.”

Military experts estimate that Russia had accumulated a force of up to 70,000 troops to resume Kursk, including around 12,000 North Koreans.

Russia had also sent its best drone units in front and used the variants of Kamikaze and View-View (FPV) to “take fire control of the main logistics routes.”

They included drones linked to operators by fiber optic cables, which are impossible to click on electronic countermeasures.

Maksym said as a result “the enemy managed to destroy dozens of team units”, and that the remains had “created congestion on supply routes.”

The situation that day, March 11, was described as “catastrophic” by “Anton”.

The third soldier spoken by the BBC was serving at the headquarters of the Kursk front.

He also highlighted the damage caused by Russian FPV drones. “We used to have an advantage in the drones, now not,” he said. He added that Russia had an advantage with more precise air attacks and a greater number of troops.

Anton said the supply routes had been cut. “Logistics no longer works: they are no longer possible organized deliveries of weapons, ammunition, food and water.”

Anton said he managed to leave Sudzha on foot, at night: “We almost died several times. The drones are in the sky all the time.”

The soldier predicted that all the support point of Ukraine in Kursk would be lost, but that “from a military point of view, Kursk’s direction has run out. It makes no sense to keep it anymore.”

Western officials estimate that Kursk’s offensive in Ukraine involved around 12,000 troops. They were some of their best trained soldiers, equipped with weapons supplied by the west, including tanks and armored vehicles.

Russian bloggers published videos that show some of that team that are destroyed or captured. On March 13, Russia said the situation in Kursk was “completely under our control” and that Ukraine had “abandoned” much of his material.

In publications on social networks from March 11 to 12, a fourth soldier, “Dmytro” compared the withdrawal of the front of “a scene of a horror movie.”

“The roads are full of hundreds of destroyed cars, armored vehicles and ATV (all land vehicles). There are many injured and dead.”

The vehicles were often hunted by multiple drones, he said.

He described his own narrow escape when the car in which he was traveling is bogged down. He and his fellow soldiers were trying to wear the free vehicle when they were attacked by another DRON FPV.

He lost his vehicle, but injured one of his comrades. He said they had to hide in a forest for two hours before being rescued.

Dmytro said that many Ukrainians retired on foot with “boys walked from 15 km to 20 km.” The situation, he said, had gone from “difficult and criticism of catastrophic.”

In a message on March 14, Dmytro added: “Everything is finished in the Kursk region … the operation was not successful.”

He estimated that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers had died since the first crossing to Russia in August.

A fifth soldier sounded less bleak on the situation. On March 13, “Artem” sent a telegram message from a military hospital, where he was being treated by shrapnel wounds suffered in an attack with unmanned planes.

Artem said he had been fighting more west, near the town of Loknyya, where the Ukrainian forces were putting a strong resistance and “fighting like lions.”

He believed that the operation had achieved some success.

“It is important that until now the Ukrainian armed forces have created this damping zone, thanks to which the Russians cannot enter Sumy,” he said.

The main general of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, insists that the Ukrainian forces have retired to “more favorable positions”, remain in Kursk and would do it “as long as it is convenient and necessary.”

He said that Russia had suffered more than 50,000 losses during the operation, including those killed, injured or captured.

However, the situation is now very different from last August. Military analysts estimate that two thirds of the 1,000 square feet/km won from the beginning have been lost since then.

Any hope that Ukraine can exchange Kursk territory for some of yours have decreased significantly.

Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed that Kursk’s operation had “achieved his task” by forcing Russia to take out troops from the east and relieve pressure on Pokrovsk.

But it is not yet clear at what cost.