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Russia has failed to push back Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region despite sending in reinforcements as the incursion enters its sixth day, Ukrainian soldiers involved in its army’s operation told the Financial Times on Sunday.
Speaking near the international border, the troops said they remained in Russian territory.
Russian general Valery Gerasimov has repeatedly attempted to portray the situation as being under control, with the defence ministry posting videos on Sunday of fighter jets and helicopters purportedly striking columns of Ukrainian equipment.
But verified videos and photographs show Ukrainian troops and equipment have advanced 30km inside Russia since the operation began on Tuesday, moving further into Kursk and occupying the town of Sudzha near the Russian border.
“We are going deeper,” said Denys, a Ukrainian soldier who has made three rotations into Russian territory since the incursion began. Kyiv’s troops still had the upper hand despite Russia bringing in reinforcements, he added, as a Ukrainian fighter jet zoomed overhead.
His unit, which the FT is not identifying at the request of Denys and his senior officers, had been rotated to the area from the eastern Donetsk region more than a week ago to take part in the offensive.
Another soldier, Kostyantyn, said the early success of the surprise operation had “really lifted our spirits”. “We feel confident of Ukrainian victory,” he added, before driving back into the fight.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke five days of silence on Saturday night to refer to his forces’ incursion into Russia publicly for the first time.
Zelenskyy said his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi had reported to him about “the frontline situation and on our actions to push the war out into the aggressor’s territory”.
“Ukraine is proving that it really knows how to restore justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed — pressure on the aggressor,” he added.
A Ukrainian defence ministry official told the FT that they were being tight-lipped on details of the operation because they were “waiting to see how it develops first”.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova vowed on Sunday that there would be a “tough response” to the incursion.
The country’s defence ministry said it “continues to repel” Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region and on Sunday listed three settlements located about 25km-30km from the border — Tolpino, Zhuravli and Obshchii Kolodez — where it said it had struck Ukrainian troops.
Russia has deployed tank crews, artillery guns and drone units to the region after the Kremlin announced a “counter-terrorism” operation to try to halt the unprecedented Ukrainian operation.
The Russian defence ministry said more than a dozen Ukrainian drones and four missiles in the Kursk region had been shot down overnight on Saturday. A missile struck an apartment block in Kursk city on Saturday, injuring 13 people, its governor Alexey Smirnov said. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
More than 76,000 civilians have also been evacuated from the Kursk border region. Smirnov referred to the Ukrainian forces as sabotage and reconnaissance groups, and said they had caused panic. “The situation is stable but very difficult,” he added.
The regional government in Ukraine’s nearby Sumy region has also evacuated several thousand people since Tuesday. About 50 arrived at an aid centre for internally displaced people on Sunday morning, where they were to receive food and financial assistance.
Anatoliy and his wife Nadiya said they had fled their cottage in the Ukrainian village of Khotin, where Russian forces have dropped devastating glide bombs.
They said they supported their military’s incursion. “Why can Russians invade us but we can’t invade them?” Nadiya asked.
The ultimate aim of Ukraine’s incursion — which is using some of its best and most elite brigades — remains unclear. But the operation has demonstrated that Russia’s border defences are still weak more than a year after Ukraine’s first mini-incursion and has given Kyiv a much-needed morale boost.
Analysts have said Ukraine may be seeking to use the Kursk offensive to improve its position in potential talks. It is losing territory and men in eastern Ukraine and is still struggling to resolve ammunition and manpower shortages.
Videos posted by Ukrainian troops on Saturday showed them joyously hoisting the Ukrainian flag on a Russian village council building and allegedly telling residents to get ready for a referendum — both tactics often used by Russian forces in Ukraine. Several dozen captured Russian soldiers were also filmed being driven into Ukraine.
