"Russia is reeling on its own soil": Ukrainian offensive brings ruins to Kursk region, - NYT
Date: 2024-08-13 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
All that remains of the Russian border post are ruins, stray dogs and abandoned customs declarations. The Russians hastily fled from it under pressure from Ukrainian troops who were advancing.
According to The New York Times, Ukrainian armored vehicles broke through the border unhindered, covering the flow of infantry. The largest foreign invasion of Russia since World War II continues.
For Ukraine, there are many risks
At the checkpoint, a Ukrainian soldier standing on the side of the road waved to the forces that were passing by. However, a few days ago, the chief of the General Staff of Russia said that the attack had been repelled. The border is littered with the detritus of a lost battle: the remains of Russians, bullet casings, and discarded body armor.
The crossing onto Russian soil was a significant moment for Ukraine in its war with Russia. During the first month of the war, Ukraine did strike back with helicopter assaults across the border and regularly bombed Russian refineries and airfields with drones. Two smaller previous incursions into Russia by groups of Russian exiles backed by the Ukrainian army ended in quick retreats.
But until last week, Ukrainian troops had not invaded Russia. The Ukrainian Armed Forces easily cut through the thinly defended border, advancing dozens of kilometers into Russia and changing the history of the war after a dismal year. Two dozen settlements have been captured.
"I am happy to ride a tank into Russia, and it is better than them riding tanks into our country," said one Ukrainian soldier.
Not all the equipment survived. Reporters saw flatbed trucks hauling damaged MaxxPros into Ukraine. On either side, several houses had been destroyed by Russian air strikes, indicating brutal air attacks. Where the road ran through high, open plains, plumes of smoke rose from all sides.
"There are many risks for Ukraine. The offensive is intended to force Russia to divert troops from the fierce fighting in eastern Donbas, which has not happened so far, and to gain leverage in peace talks, although none are planned. Whether Ukraine can hold Russian soil long enough to achieve these strategic goals remains an open question," the newspaper writes.
A Turn in the War
Vladimir Putin has promised that the attack will not soften his negotiating stance. Russian forces have continued to pound Ukrainian forces in the east, even as the Russians repel an offensive in the Kursk region. But the Ukrainian armored columns heading toward Russia are a remarkable turn in the war.
Ukrainian troops breached the border on Tuesday in a surprise attack that began with demining the tracks. They were followed by armored vehicles, which smashed through a thin line of young conscripts and border guards.
The attack on the Sudzha border outpost left a horrific scene of ruins just a few hundred kilometers south of Moscow. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have penetrated dozens of kilometers into Russian territory.
On Monday, about a dozen Ukrainian troops in surgical masks cursed as they removed dead Russian soldiers and stuffed them into body bags. The outpost was clearly unprepared for a tank and artillery assault.
Ukraine had prepared in secret. Thick summer foliage in oak and maple forests hid heavy equipment. Fictitious exercises hid troop movements. Soldiers dispersed and slept in abandoned houses.
Only at the last minute, according to the deputy commander of the Ukrainian brigade, were even senior officers informed of the offensive. The commander, who asked to be identified by name and rank, Lieutenant Colonel Artem, said he had called his officers to a meeting on the side of the forest to announce the offensive. This was three days before the operation. The rank and file soldiers had only learned the day before.
"The idea that we would actually enter Russian territory seemed unbelievable," the colonel said.
There was a very strict limit on who knew about the attack plan, he said. Still, when news was spread by personnel, the army relied on the discretion of its soldiers. Officers did not take away soldiers' phones, hoping they would keep it a secret.
The strategy was to quickly break through the border defenses and maneuver on the roads, blocking Russian counterattacks and taking advantage of the hilly terrain in this part of Russia, which is interspersed with swamps and lakes, limiting the Russians' ability to move on the roads.
"This is a blow to the credibility of Russia, which presents itself as a victorious empire. But we have created a buffer zone inside this country," the lieutenant colonel said.
Secrecy of the attack was most important
Last year, after the government spent months declaring a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine that ultimately failed, a research institute affiliated with the Defense Ministry studied successful military operations. Experts have found a common thread: the silence of political leaders helps achieve their goals. This week, Ukrainian officials waited several days to even admit that they had invaded Russia.
"It is appropriate to share details, comment and boast only after the operation is over," said Ivan Kirichevsky, a military expert at the Ukrainian think tank Defense Express.
At the border, secrecy has been costly. Unable to warn residents, Ukraine was forced to evacuate them after Russia responded by bombing Ukrainian border villages. Ukraine said it was evacuating 20,000 people.
Natalia Vyalina, 44, a kindergarten teacher in the Ukrainian village of Khotyn, heard tracked vehicles moving along the roads on Tuesday morning. That was the day her village was bombed. The woman approved of Ukraine's strategy, even though she was forced to flee.
"Let them try to be occupied, captured, hear children crying in bomb shelters, see old people suffering," she said at a shelter for displaced people from the border zone.
"I want the war to end," said Vera Prostatina, a 65-year-old retired accountant who was forced to flee her home. "But now the Russians are taking over villages and towns. Let this be a lesson to them. The enemy must be punished. They brought us war and destroyed our lives. Now I want it to end for them and for us."
A few hundred meters inside Russia, the road is littered with mortar craters. The road sign indicating which way to turn toward Ukraine or Russia is strewn with shrapnel. The explosions tore off the blue sheet of a Russian border post.
Blood stains on the floor and scattered bandages showed that the Russian soldiers here had lost the battle. Here, Russia was tottering on its own soil. An explosion thundered in the passport control hall. Flat screens hung from the roof on wires. Rubles that Ukrainians had not collected lay on the side of the street.
