Russian soldiers, Russian military blogger and military analysts said Russian and North Korean troops have made significant progress in Russia’s Kursk region in recent days, threatening Ukraine’s supply lines and their possession on a piece of land, hoping to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.
Ukrainian soldiers said that working together, the new influx of North Korean soldiers and trained Russian drone units, advancing under the cover of fierce artillery and air bombing, has been able to overwhelm the important position of the Ukrainian Corps.
“It’s true; we can’t stop them.” They just swept us away and moved forward in groups of 50 North Koreans, and we only have six of us in our position. ”
“A decision is made here, but I don’t know how effective they will be,” he said.
If Ukrainian troops are cut off or forced to retreat, it will be a major setback in Kiev. The invasion of Kursk was not only a landmark action that prompted morale and embarrassing Russian President Vladimir Putin, but also the territory held by Russia made it possible for Ukraine to bargain in any peace negotiations. At the moment President Trump tries to force through settlement negotiations, exit could undermine his bargaining position.
Last summer, Ukrainian troops swept over Russian positions for the first time and occupied about 200 square miles of bridgehead around the Russian town of Sudzha, about 6 miles from the border.
This is the first time that foreign troops have entered Russian territory since World War II.
Military analysts are still divided on surprise decisions about whether a useful purpose or strategic mistakes have been achieved.
Ukrainian, South Korea and Western intelligence estimates that Russian and North Korean soldiers regained about two-thirds of their land in the summer, but paid a terrible price, with at least 4,000 soldiers killed in the fight.
Ukrainian officials said the offense achieved multiple goals: foiling the looming Russian offensive and entering Ukraine’s Sumi region; proving that the West’s fear of escalation was exaggerated. Force Russia to transfer resources from Ukraine’s frontlines; and may serve as a leverage for future peace negotiations.
Recently, the setback in Kursk County was due to the fact that Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine have managed to stall the Russian offensive efforts for several months and have largely stabilized the situation.
During the three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Putin had maintained close control over all Russia’s information, but did not pay a significant political price in the military embarrassment of Kursk, even though the Kremlin lost thousands of soldiers in a tough battle to drive the Ukrainians.
As the battle progressed, the Russians brought about 12,000 North Koreans to the battle. North Korea is already providing Russia with millions of shells, in desperate need of Moscow, as well as artillery and ballistic missiles.
The soldiers said Russian and North Korean forces have been attacking in some of the fiercest clashes of the war for months, increasing in intensity and declining, but never really succumbing.
North Koreans were forced to exit the battlefield and reorganize in January, but they returned soon.
“Russia has once again deployed North Korean soldiers with its troops,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 8. Four Ukrainian soldiers said in an interview that the North Koreans are in the vanguard of the latest attack wave together with Russian elite drone units.
Ukrainian soldiers said that now, the North Koreans have been better adapted to a war on the battlefield, which has been changed by the spread of drones. They still carried out the same fierce extra attacks, resulting in many casualties, but their work was more cohesive.
“The North Koreans’ application of tactics is constantly improving,” said Andrii, the drone commander of the Kursk battle. He said they are better coordinating with the North Korean artillery forces and are supported by Russian drone operators.
According to Deepstate, they helped the Russians break through the western Ukrainian line of Ukraine in the Ukrainian armed bag, near the border in southern Sudzha, a group of analysts mapped the battlefield based on sources of Ukrainian military and open source data such as satellite images, photos and videos posted on social media.
Ukrainian soldiers in the fight said their line broke south of the small village of Kurylivka and that enemy troops were able to cross narrow rivers in January. The soldiers said they had quietly accumulated troops, but by early March there were too many North Koreans and when they attacked them they occupied Ukraine’s position.
Ukrainian soldiers said the Ukrainian army retreated in an organized manner with designated defense lines. At present, the enemy’s advance has stopped.
In addition to having an overwhelming advantage in troops and firepower, the Russians also saturated the battlefield with fiber optic drones. Unlike radio-controlled drones, these drones are protected from interference because they are controlled by ultra-thin fiber optic cables as their pilots direct it to the target.
Captain Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the battalion commander in the 47th Mechanical Brigade battle in Kursk, said the Russians seemed to have increased the range where drones could fly while bringing some of the best operators to the Kursk region.
Now, small Russian assault units with only a few soldiers are sometimes advanced by drones, further extending the range of pilots that can fly.
“Once they rushed in, about 200 to 300 meters from the front line, they started using them from there,” he said.
This allowed Russians and North Koreans to strike more effectively on Ukraine’s main supply line: the only way from Ukraine to Suza.
This route has long been the target of Russian attacks. It was littered with wreckage of bombed armored tanks and other military vehicles that failed to operate gloves safely during a visit to the border this winter.
The Russians can now hit the road firmly.
Captain Shyrsync said his soldiers were still able to take their posts even under increasing pressure, but other soldiers said the situation was getting more and more difficult.
“The enemy is strongly focused on reducing our logistics, which affects our ability to maintain our defense,” said Andrii, the drone commander.
“It’s affected by the number of drones and the training of their crew,” he said. “It feels like they’re gathering the best crew here, so, their numbers are huge.”
He added: “We have losses, but we are still performing the tasks assigned to us.”
Liubov Sholudko and Yurii Shyvala Contribution report.
