Ukrainian military told the BBC about the retreat from Kursk region: "Disaster"

Ukrainian military told the BBC about the retreat from Kursk region: "Disaster"

Ukrainian soldiers share with the BBC their impressions of the retreat from the Kursk region, which took place under constant strikes from Russian drones that interrupted the main supply route Sudzha-Sumy.

"Horror movie", "disaster", "collapse", "frontline failure".

On March 9, a soldier named "Volodymyr" told the publication that he was in Sudzha, where there is "panic and front line collapse". Ukrainian troops are "trying to retreat - in columns of troops and equipment. Some of them are destroyed by Russian drones on the road. It’s impossible to leave during the day".

"All our logistical supplies are tied to one route, Sudzha-Sumy. Everyone knew that [the Russians] would try to cut it off. Yet, once again, this was a surprise for our command," the soldier says. 

Before Sudzha returned under Russian control, he reported that Russian forces were attacking them from three sides.

Another soldier, "Maksym", says that "the enemy managed to destroy dozens of pieces of equipment," and the debris "created traffic jams on the supply routes".

"Anton", who served at the command headquarters of the Kursk front, described the situation as "catastrophic". He said he managed to leave Sudzha on foot, at night - "several times we almost died. Drones constantly in the sky".

He believes that the entire Ukrainian bridgehead in the Kursk region will be lost, but "from a military point of view, the Kursk direction has exhausted itself. There’s no point in holding it any longer".

A fourth soldier, "Dmytro", compared the retreat to a "scene from a horror movie: roads littered with hundreds of destroyed vehicles, armored vehicles, and quad bikes. Many wounded and dead".

Their vehicle got stuck in the mud, a drone hunted them, and they hid in the forest for two hours before they were rescued. "Dmytro" reported that many Ukrainian soldiers retreated on foot, and "the guys walked 15-20 km". The situation, he said, changed from "difficult and critical to catastrophic".

On March 14, he stated that "it’s all over in the Kursk region... the operation was not successful".

He estimates that since the first crossing into Russian territory in August, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have died.