“It was an incredible feeling to realize that this time we caught them.” And we laughed like crazy when we dug ditches on the enemy’s land, on Russian land,” said the soldier with the nickname “Lyasha”.
According to this soldier, his unit crossed the Suja on the first day of the offensive and advanced at least 20 kilometers deep into Russian territory. There they entrenched themselves, while the rest moved forward in three or four directions, including towards Kursk itself.
Now the “Liaša” unit is resting in the Sumy region for five days, so that it can return to the enemy’s territory later. The soldiers see this as a sign of the Ukrainian command’s long-term plans for the operation.
“At first the Russian soldiers we encountered were surprised and shocked, and many of them surrendered willingly. They did not want to perish. There were also units of Chechen soldiers stationed around Suja, and they were very frightened. They had done terrible things in Ukraine and were afraid that we would torture and kill them the way they did to Ukrainian civilians and soldiers. Some of them were dressed in civilian clothes when we captured them, and they left behind many of their weapons and vehicles when they fled,” Liaša said.
The soldier, nicknamed Afon, admits that the Ukrainians “may have abused them a little”, but stresses that no one was tortured or beaten.
“We need them alive because they will be exchanged for our people, who are being held by the Russians.” But we don’t act like that. Not a single surrendered civilian or soldier was mistreated by anyone in our unit. It is a matter of honor to show the world that we are not like the Russians. We are civilized and they are barbarians, said Afon.
According to “Lyasha”, the civilian inhabitants of the villages occupied by Kursk treated the Ukrainians kindly, but avoided commenting on the Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
“None of us wanted this war,” insisted one old woman in a Russian village.
Afon, Liasha and most of their comrades are experienced soldiers who have been fighting since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022. They were transferred from eastern Ukraine, where the fighting was much fiercer.
“So far, the battles we have experienced in the Kursk region have not been as fierce as we are used to in Ukraine. But we know it’s because most of those we’ve encountered are newly drafted or poorly trained men who have never been in combat before,” says Afon, adding that Russian aircraft bombs and rocket-propelled grenades have made them suffered a lot of losses.
The soldiers believe that a “furious Putin” will want to throw maximum forces into the Kursk region to push out the Ukrainian soldiers.
“We don’t know how it will end, but we all think it’s better than spending months in the trenches, being fired upon by powerful Russian bombs, artillery, rockets, and watching our friends die or get injured all around us.” At least we’re moving now. We have broken the deadlock, and morale is very high,” the soldiers say.
“Union” inf.
2024-08-20 12:53:31