Five months after Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Russia in the first ground invasion since World War II, the two armies are engaged in some of the fiercest clashes of the war there, fighting over territory and leverage in the conflict.
The intensity of the fighting is reminiscent of the worst sieges in eastern Ukraine in the past three years, including in towns such as Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
The fighting in Russia’s Kursk region is important for the area to play a role in any ceasefire negotiations. Faced with the prospect of an unexpected new US president promising to end the war quickly without specifying the terms, Ukraine hopes to use Russian territory as a bargaining chip.
Russia, relying on the strengthening of North Korea, hopes to remove this territory from the control of Ukraine.
“Look, the Russians have to take this area at all costs, and they’re putting all their strength into this area, and we’re doing everything we can to hold it,” said Sgt. Oleksandr, 46, Ukrainian infantry platoon commander. “We stop, we destroy, we destroy, we destroy – so much that it is difficult to even understand.”
He and the other soldiers, who asked to be identified only by name or call sign in accordance with military protocol, said waves of attacks on North Korean infantry have made the fighting more intense than before.
“When the North Koreans started coming in, it got a lot worse,” said Staff Sgt. Oleksii, 30, platoon commander. “They put massive pressure on our fronts, find our weak points and break them.”
With the help of about 12,000 North Koreans, Russia has regained about half of the territories it lost in the summer. Its attacks over the past week have further eaten away at Ukrainian-held territory.
But Ukrainian forces have also been on the offensive in recent days, trying to secure territory west of the small Russian town of Sudja, about six miles from the border, which has become an anchor for Ukrainian forces that seized nearly 200 square miles in August. .
Andrii, 44, a military intelligence officer, said: “If they continue to press us and we don’t retreat, the enemy will feel superior.” “When someone keeps hitting you and you don’t respond, the attacker will feel psychologically comfortable, even comfortable.”
Soldiers said the Russians had largely repelled the attack, but fighting continued and the situation remained unpredictable.
The intensity of the fighting could be seen on the road approaching the Russian border: A steady stream of tanks, armored personnel carriers and other vehicles rolled past broken and blown-up equipment.
Russian bombs and rockets exploded in the border villages with thunderous force, while Ukrainian rockets were seen streaking across the sky in the opposite direction.
Tens of thousands of drones also hunted targets. They have it changed the battlefieldalthough Ukraine has improved its electronic warfare capabilities, limiting the effectiveness of radio-based drones. Russia has now filled the theater with drones controlled by ultra-thin fiber-optic cables with a range of more than 10 miles.
The best defense against them is a shotgun, Ukrainian soldiers said.
The renewed fighting is taking place against a very uncertain political backdrop. The newly elected President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, questioned the American military aid to Ukraine for months during the election campaign. He said he wanted to end the war quickly, but did not specify how.
Russian forces have been on the offensive in eastern Ukraine for more than a year. makes steady progress despite staggering losses.
With its intervention, Ukraine aims to create a buffer zone to protect hundreds of thousands of civilians in the city of Sumy, less than 20 miles from the border with Russia. Ukraine also wants to reduce the pressure on the eastern front by drawing the Russians into its territory.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the campaign sent a strong message to the world that Ukraine can do more than play defense.
“This is one of our victories, I think one of our biggest victories, not just last year, but throughout the war,” Mr. Zelenskiy said Thursday in Germany as he met with representatives of nations that have provided military support to Ukraine.
Still, some military analysts have warned that Ukraine’s Kursk campaign could cause its forces to stretch further and lose ground in its eastern Donbas region.
Many soldiers who fought in Kursk believe that without their campaign, the painful losses in eastern Ukraine would have been worse.
“We have to understand that the Russians are using their most elite soldiers and their best reserves in this area,” said Captain Oleksandr Shirshin, 30, the battalion commander of the 47th Mechanized Brigade. “Considering what they can do in other parts of Ukraine, that’s good.”
His eyes were still white after fighting a few days ago to fend off a major Russian attack.
The Russians attacked Ukrainian positions in six waves with more than 50 tanks, armored personnel carriers and other equipment.
According to Captain Shirshin, dozens of enemy soldiers were killed and wounded, a large number of Russian equipment was destroyed, and the Russians advanced several miles.
“When the first wave comes, we focus on it, deal with it, and then the next wave comes,” he said. There is no time to divert artillery or other resources as the next wave moves from a different line of attack.
“We are behind,” he said. “Then the next wave comes and one of them manages to reach the required part and complete the task.”
According to him, it is difficult to see that many in the West view the war in Ukraine as a video game and refuse to see the threat Russia poses to the world.
He acknowledged Ukraine’s morale had plummeted in the nearly three-year war, but said most soldiers still understood why they had to fight. “Stopping means our death, that’s all,” he said.
According to some Ukrainian soldiers, North Korea’s entry into the war should alarm European countries and their allies.
North Korean troops fought as a disciplined, dedicated and fearless force, usually moving in large formations on foot, under heavy artillery fire and pursued by drones, even in mined areas. Ukrainian authorities announced their forces on Saturday captured two North Korean soldiers and that they were the first ever taken alive.
Sgt. Platoon commander Oleksandr said the massacres in Kursk were as horrific as anything he had witnessed since joining the army in 2014.
“You look and you don’t fully understand where you are, how many people we destroy every day,” he said.
He compared it to Bachmut, when machine gunners had to be replaced regularly because they couldn’t keep up with the kill rate. “After putting that many people down in two hours, mentally they couldn’t handle it,” he said.
“It’s the same here now,” he said, sharing cellphone video showing the aftermath of the latest attack. The field was littered with corpses, torn and twisted and piled up in a way that made it difficult to count the dead.
“The worst is for pedestrians,” he said. “When you’re sitting there, they come at you and everything comes flying at you.”
Anastasia Kuznetsova contributed to the report.
