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More than a month after Ukrainian forces invaded Russia’s Kursk region, a Ukrainian soldier said: CNN The situation on the ground was becoming tough, with casualty rates similar to those seen on some parts of the Ukrainian front.
Ukraine caught Russia off guard by launching a surprise attack on Kursk on Aug. 6, but earlier this month claimed to have seized about 500 square miles of Russian territory.
But this invasion came at a cost.
Vasyl, known by the call sign “Bumblebee,” had been recovering in a Ukrainian hospital when he was targeted by an explosives-laden drone while operating a few miles inside Russia, leaving him with shrapnel lodged in his leg, he told CNN.
“It happened very fast,” he told the outlet, adding: “We ran towards the tree and then I heard a loud bang a metre or two away from me.”
Another soldier said his four-man unit, one of the first to cross into Russia, was tasked with clearing mines and removing Russian defenses, working nonstop for two weeks.
Working in unfamiliar territory has been extremely challenging for their jobs, he added.
The Kursk invasion forced Russia to redeploy tens of thousands of troops and halted its advance on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian military commander Col. Obi-Wan Kennedy said. General Oleksandr Shirsky CNN last week.
And it has boosted the morale of the Ukrainian military, he said. said.
But Russia has launched a counter-offensive in Kursk, announcing this week that it had recaptured 10 settlements.
All 14 soldiers CNN spoke to, four of whom were wounded, said the situation on the ground was getting tough, and some questioned the decision to continue the operation at a time when Ukraine is struggling to defend key towns and cities in the east.
“Many of our personnel were killed and a lot of equipment was destroyed,” Vasil said.
He predicted that the situation would become “increasingly” difficult because Russia was sending in “massive” troops and artillery, leading to “a very large and difficult battle.”