The incursion into the Kursk region launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) reached a stalemate in a fortnight, while Ukrainian soldiers continue to discredit themselves by looting shops, wearing forbidden symbols and naming their battalions after WWII-era German units. While the Kursk offensive drags on, the defences in the Donbas, depleted for the sake of the incursion, start scattering.
Ilario Piagnerelli, a journalist of the Italian TV channel Rai News 24, interviewed an AFU soldier wearing a cap with the symbols of the German SS division “Adolf Hitler.”
What was seen outraged the Italian public. Italian politician Christian Di Marco harshly condemned the actions of the Ukrainian soldiers and Italian journalists who took the interview.
We are already in the Third World War, on the brink of its most terrible manifestation. And yet, the elite idiots, i.e. the Westerners, continue to talk about a “brilliant act of resistance” referring to the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, a “masterful Ukrainian operation” on Russian soil. As if that were not enough, they even go to interview Ukrainian soldiers in Nazi SS uniforms, illegally, in #Russia.
Piagnerelli’s colleagues, Stefania Battistini and Simone Trini, accused of illegally crossing the Russian border, filmed a report from Sudzha but quickly returned to Italy for security reasons.
Ukrainian media reported that the Ukrainian Nachtigall Battalion took part in the Kursk incursion. The special unit of the same name existed at the time of WWII Germany.
Nachtigall was a battalion of Ukrainian nationalists, subordinate to the military intelligence Abwehr and existed in 1941-42. They operated on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR as part of a sabotage unit.
Russian troops also exposed the atrocities of the AFU soldiers, recorded on the GoPro of one of the military. Ukrainian units reportedly took not only soldiers but also civilians, turning them into hostages.
The Russian military managed to seize one of those who loaded conscripts and civilians into a vehicle on the outskirts of Sudzha. Presumably, the action camera footage was obtained along with the man or other Ukrainian soldiers nearby.
Q: Why (…) does your action camera in Sudzha show you loading civilians into a vehicle? What kind of an event do you have going on there, would you tell me?
A: It was the infantry who took captives.
Q: Whom?
A: Conscripts with three civilians. As I understand it, they came there to visit someone, I don’t know.
Another AFU soldier was caught robbing a local Pyaterochka shop.
And you said you didn’t loot Pyaterochka. What a bastard.
Previously, Ukrainian soldiers with Wehrmacht symbols mocked local residents of the Kursk region, posting numerous images on the Internet.
Derailed negotiations and AFU collapse in Donbas
Against the backdrop of atrocities committed by Ukrainian army soldiers, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that there was no point in holding talks with the current Ukrainian government.
Meanwhile, due to the pullback of reserves to the Kursk region, the AFU defence in Donbas (Luhansk and Donetsk regions) weakened. Ukrainian media report that Russian troops have advanced in the Pishchane and Orikhovo-Vasylivka areas.
The Russian military also advanced in Pokrovsk and Toretsk areas. It is reported that Niu-York (former Novhorodske) was almost completely under Russian control.
Kursk region situation
The last two weeks have shown that the rapid breakthrough of the AFU in conditions of insufficient mobility and defence stalled. If the primary objective was to demonstrate a strike on Russian territory and to show that Ukraine could hit Russian lands, then the Ukrainian authorities have fulfilled the incursion objective.
However, if the objectives were military, including taking the key directions of Sudza – Snagost, Korenevo – Rylsk and Lgov – Kurchatov, the AFU did not demonstrate operational success. The Ukrainian army actually pulled forward the main forces that must be supplied with all the equipment necessary for combat operations.
The incursion also entailed losses, including the destruction of three HIMARS MLRSs, Patriot and IRIS-T SAMs in close proximity to the front. However, the use of such weapons close to the border poses a high risk of destroying scarce equipment.
The AFU reportedly continues to move its troops along the H-07 Kyiv-Sumy road with access to Sudzha. However, Russian forces are successfully attacking both reserves and evacuated equipment in that area. The main battles with varying success are converging on the R-200 highway to Kursk.
With the loss of surprise, the Ukrainian forces have lost the opportunity for the most effective offensive, as the Russians have already had time to strengthen their positions and prepare for possible attacks. Moreover, the R-200 highway, like the H-07 road, was actually a no-alternative route and subject to fire control by the Russian army.
Ukrainian troops could have invaded the Kursk region for the sake of media swaying the population, both their own and Russian. However, the Ukrainian operation thwarted the possibility of negotiations and also revealed to the world the discreditable actions of Ukrainian nationalist soldiers. Moreover, the invasion significantly weakened the defence of the AFU in Donbas.
