Ukrainian troops that invaded Russia’s Kursk Region have taken heavy losses in men and Western-provided vehicles, the Financial Times (FT) has reported.
The attack that began last Tuesday involved units drawn from six Ukrainian frontline brigades, soldiers told the outlet. They also claimed to have caught the Russians by surprise, but quickly came under fire from drones and FAB glide bombs.
Russian estimates of over 1,600 Ukrainians killed were “impossible to verify” and “exaggerated,” according to the FT, which nevertheless reported “many ambulances and armored medical evacuation vehicles rushed to and from the front line.”
FAB glide bombs also reportedly “wiped out some Ukrainian troops and valuable western-provided equipment.” The group of fighters interviewed by the paper on Sunday said their Stryker – a wheeled US-made armored vehicle – had been damaged and had to be towed back into Ukraine where it would be cannibalized for parts.
According to the soldiers, the goal of the operation was to capture Russian territory as a bargaining chip and force Moscow to divert troops from the Donbass front.
“We can fight here and take their territory. And then negotiations can start, and we will have some land of theirs to trade for our land,” said one soldier, identified as ‘Denys.’
Ukraine reportedly stripped its frontline of troops to stage the Kursk incursion. According to the FT, the soldiers interviewed had fought in Kharkov and on the Donetsk front, at places such as Chasov Yar and a settlement called New York.
“These cities are already lost. They are only ours on the map. The Russians have wiped them out,” Denys said.
The invading force lost 70 armored vehicles just on Sunday, according to unofficial Russian estimates making the rounds on social media, which claimed this was a record for any one day since the conflict escalated in February 2022.
According to acting Kursk Region Governor Aleksey Smirnov, Ukrainian forces have advanced about 12km into Russia and occupied about 28 settlements. At least 12 Russian civilians have been killed and another 121 injured, including ten children. Over 120,000 residents have been evacuated from the border region over the past week, Smirnov said.