Thin ice of fierce fighting: what is really happening in the Kursk sector (military testimony)
16 October 2024 18:55
РОЗБІР ВІД 
The operation in the Kursk region continues. Enemy aircraft continue to strike with guided aerial bombs on their territory, the General Staff said on 16 October. However, the brief and metered reports from official sources were interrupted by messages from the military’s Telegram channels and media publications. For the first time in the 2.5 months of the Kursk operation, there was open discussion about the problems of the Ukrainian Defence Forces and how and when to end the operation. Kommersant looked into the details.
The situation in the Kursk region, where active hostilities continue, remains volatile. Reports from the military on social media, both Ukrainian and Russian, make it clear that combat positions are frequently changing and territories are changing hands.
On 11 October, Ukrainian soldier Kyrylo Sazonov, who is taking part in the fighting in the Kursk sector, wrote on his Telegram channel:
“No good news at the moment, but we are holding on. We will discuss losses after the victory”, – Kirill Sazonov
According to him, the situation at the front is complicated by the uncoordinated actions of different units, which leads to confusion on the battlefield.
Another military channel, Officer, confirms that there is chaos at the front.
“There’s a mess going on in Kursk, not just positions, but relatively small territories are changing hands several times, some kind of mess is going on literally and figuratively. […] Our FPV drones show an advantage, but the Russians use fibre-optic FPVs, which are difficult to intercept,” writes “Officer”
On 12 October, the Govoryayut Sniper channel also noted that a manoeuvre war was underway in the Kursk sector.
“There is no frozen line with a gradual advance, so each branch of the army on both sides can be surrounded in 1-2 days. Both armies faced such a problem several times during our JFO in Kursk,” writes “Govoryayut Sniper”
on 13 October, the “Thoughts of a Frontline Soldier” channel reported that Ukrainian forces had regained some of the lost territories.
“In the near future, the situation may change in our favour,” the channel said
What do enemy resources say?
On the Russian side, propaganda resources continue to conceal losses. Vladimir Solovyov claims that Russian aviation disrupted the rotation of Ukrainian units in the border area, and the Russian so-called Kots military news agency writes about the destruction of Ukrainian equipment.
“The marines of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet continue to destroy enemy equipment in the Kursk region, gradually advancing to the state border.” – kotsnews
However, these reports contradict information from the frontline. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian marines are suffering significant losses, and their assault groups are constantly being destroyed.
“We call this brigade of Russian marines Frankenstein. Because they were dismantled a year ago near Vuhledar, then the second unit was also in Donetsk region, and now the third unit with the replenishment was first in Toretsk, and now here,” Kyrylo Sazonov
“According to their brothers who are now in Kursk region, [… foul language] marines should not hope for any mercy at all, the pilots who were shot will be paid in full,” writes the Telegram channel “Officer”
And on 16 October, the media published a video of paratroopers of the 95th Air Assault Brigade destroying an assault group of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet in the Kursk direction.
The General Staff reports that the operation in the Kursk region is ongoing.
“Enemy aircraft continue to strike with guided aerial bombs at our territory. As of 16 October, there were 16 air strikes with the use of 23 guided aerial bombs, and the enemy also fired 191 artillery shells.” – General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
What problems did the Ukrainian Defence Forces face in the Kursk region?
In an exclusive commentary for , Ukrainian Defence Forces officer Yevhen Tykhyi shared details about the challenges faced by Ukrainian troops in the Kursk sector. According to him, the main difficulty lies in the organisation of logistics and supply of troops in this combat zone, which remains under the control of Russian forces.
“Kursk region is the enemy’s operational space. This makes it extremely difficult to organise the delivery of personnel and logistics. There is only one road leading to Sudzha, which is regularly used by Russian troops for guided aerial bombardment. This complicates not only the supply of troops, but also creates the risk of casualties even on our territory,” said Yevhen Tykhyi.
The officer said that sometimes they have to look for alternative routes to avoid shelling.
“In order to carry out our tasks, we sometimes have to choose roads bypassing Sumy, which, of course, adds additional difficulties,” said Tykhyi.
Operations on the territory partially controlled by the enemy are accompanied by some confusion.
“When you recapture a part of the territory, there is a temporary chaos: it is difficult to immediately determine where and what forces are located, which also makes it difficult to establish interaction, logistics, communication and coordination with other units,” added Officer Tykhyi
According to him, logistical support must not only be organised but also provided by security, both on the ground and in the air.
“For example, helicopters cannot operate in certain areas unless those areas are flanked. This is critical for successful offensive actions,” emphasised Yevhen Tykhyi
The officer stressed the importance of coordination between military units and added that success in this area depends on the ability to strike the enemy from unexpected directions where he is most vulnerable.
After the Kursk operation, there will be a “debriefing”
And while political and military experts are sticking to the “everything is according to plan” the situation seems to be under very shaky control. On the condition of anonymity, the wife of a soldier of the 82nd separate air assault brigade says that she has no communication for 2-3 weeks, and when she manages to return alive, she talks about hell.
“When he came back, he said that he had to survive by drinking water from a puddle. There was hell going on. Entire companies were being covered with fire. He was wounded, there were many of them. The bodies of the dead are impossible to retrieve,” says the wife of a soldier of the 82nd separate air assault brigade.
At the same time, Kyrylo Sazonov is sure that the command will have to answer for every miscalculation.
“It’s not the first time, and it may be behind closed doors, but there will be a debriefing. And it’s time for us to memorise the multiplication table. If the Russians [ed. – replacement of obscene language] were here for at least an hour and left, everything is mined,” Kirill Sazonov
Such a course of action is not written in any textbook, Sazonov says. Despite everything, the Ukrainian military are holding on.
Thus, the decisive breakthrough of the Kursk region took the Russians by surprise and showed Russia’s unwillingness to defend its own territories. It also demonstrated to Western partners that the best defence is offence. This operation is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the war. However, each of our victories is accompanied by our losses. As Yevhen Tykhyi, an officer of the Defence Forces, said, even if the Kursk operation does not cause significant losses for the Armed Forces as a whole, each of us will have to face a personal tragedy: the loss of relatives, friends, and comrades-in-arms.
Author – Anastasia Fedor
