As Russia retakes Kursk, Ukrainian soldiers recount ‘catastrophic’ withdrawalpublished at 07:47 Greenwich Mean Time
Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent, reporting from Ukraine
Image source, Russian Defence MinistryRussian service members walk past a destroyed building in the town of Sudzha in Kursk, which was recently retaken by Russia’s armed forces – pictured from the Russian Defence Ministry
Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region have described scenes “like a horror movie” as they retreated from the front lines.
The BBC has received extensive accounts from Ukrainian troops, who recount a “catastrophic” withdrawal in the face of heavy fire, columns of military equipment destroyed, and constant attacks from swarms of Russian drones.
Ukrainian restrictions on travel to the front mean it is not possible to get a full picture. But five Ukrainian soldiers described to us what had happened.
On 9 March, “Volodymyr” sent a Telegram post to the BBC saying he was still in Sudzha, a town in Kursk, 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 on the road. It is impossible to leave during the day.”
Movement of men, logistics and equipment had been reliant on one major route between Sudzha and Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Volodymyr said it was possible to travel on that road relatively safely a month ago. By 9 March it was “all under the fire control of the enemy – drones around the clock. In one minute you can see two to three drones. That’s a lot,” he said.
“We have all the logistics here on one Sudzha-Sumy highway. And everyone knew that the [Russians] would try to cut it. But this again came as a surprise to our command.”
