Ukrainian troops tell about disaster and panic

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Russian region of Kursk described the scenes, “as a horror film” when they retreated from the front line.

The BBC received extensive accounts from Ukrainian troops, which retell the “catastrophic” conclusion to heavy fire, and the columns of military equipment destroyed and constant attacks by Russian drones.

The soldiers who talked over the social media were granted aliases to protect their personality. Some reported on the “collapse” when Ukraine lost the judge, the largest city he spent.

Ukrainian restrictions on the front trip meant that it is impossible to get a complete picture of the situation. But this is exactly how five Ukrainian soldiers described us what happened.

On March 9, “VolodyMyr” sent to the BBC Telegram Post, which said he was still in the courts where “the front fell apart.”

Ukrainian troops “try to leave – columns of troops and equipment. Some of them are burned by Russian drones on the road. Cannot leave during the day.”

The movement of men, logistics and equipment depended on one main route between the Judge and the Ukrainian region.

Volodimir said you could go on this road relatively safe a month ago. By March 9, everything was “under the control of the enemy – drones around the clock. In one minute you can see two or three drones. That’s a lot,” he said.

“We have all the logistics, on one highway of the court.

At the time of the writing, immediately before Russia, Retck, Floodimir said that the Ukrainian forces were pressed on three sides.

Until March 11, Ukrainian troops fought to prevent road reduction, Telegram reports from Maxim.

“A few days ago, we received an order to leave the defense line in an organized retreat,” he said, adding that Russia had gained considerable power to restore the city, including a large number of North Korean soldiers. ”

Military experts estimate that Russia has gained power up to 70,000 troops to return Kursk – including about 12,000 northern Koreans.

Russia also sent its best drones to the front and used Kamikaze and Views-View (FPV) options to “take control of the major logistics routes.”

They included drones associated with operators with optical wires with fibers – which cannot be replaced by electronic countermers.

Maxim said that “the enemy managed to destroy dozens of equipment” and that the crash “created congestion on the routes of supply”.

The situation on that day, March 11, was described by Anton.

The third soldier who spoke to the BBC served at the Kursk Front headquarters.

He also emphasized the damage caused to Russian drones. “We used to prefer drones, now we don’t,” he said. He added that Russia had an advantage with more accurate air and more troops.

Anton said the supply routes were shortened. “Logistics no longer work – organized supplies of weapons, ammunition, food and water are more impossible.”

Anton said he was able to leave the judge on foot at night – “we died almost a few times. Drons are all the time in the sky.”

The soldier predicted that the whole contribution of Ukraine in Kursk would be lost, but “from a military point of view, the direction of Kursk was running out. He no longer makes sense to support him.”

Western officials believe that Ukraine Kursk involved about 12,000 troops. They were several with the best prepared soldiers equipped with Western weapons, including tanks and armored vehicles.

Russian bloggers have posted videos that show that some of this equipment has been destroyed or captured. On March 13, Russia stated that the situation in Kursk was “completely under our control” and that Ukraine “refused” most of its material.

In the social media reports on March 11-12, the fourth solidar “DMYTRO”, liked the retreat from the front to “Scene from the Horror movie”.

“Roads are littered with hundreds of destroyed cars, armored vehicles and quad bacques (all vehicles). There are many wounded and dead.”

According to him, vehicles often hunted several drones.

He described his own narrow escape when the car he was driving. He and his colleagues soldiers tried to release the vehicle when they were aimed at another FPV drone.

He missed the vehicle but suffered one of his comrades. He said they needed to hide in the woods two hours before they were rescued.

DMYTRO said many Ukrainians retreated on foot, “the guys who went from 15 km to 20 km.” According to him, the situation turned from “difficult and critical to catastrophic”.

In a report on March 14, DMYTRO added: “The Kursk region was over … the operation was not successful.”

He estimated that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the first transition to Russia in August.

The fifth soldiers sounded less gloomy against the situation. On March 13, Artem sent a telegram from a military hospital, where he was treated from the wounds affected by the drone attack.

Artyom said he fought further to the West – near the village of Lokni, where Ukrainian forces exerted severe resistance and “struggle like lions”.

He believed that the operation achieved a certain success.

“It is important that the Ukrainian Armed Forces still create this buffer zone through which the Russians cannot enter the Sami,” he said.

The best general of Ukraine, Oleksandr Siri, insists that the Ukrainian forces retreated to “more favorable positions”, remain in Kursk and would do it “as long as it is appropriate and necessary.”

He said Russia suffered more than 50,000 losses during the operation – including killed, victims or enthusiastic.

However, in August last year the situation is very different from last August. Military analysts estimate two -thirds of 1000 km/km received at the beginning, since then have been lost.

Any hopes that Ukraine will be able to trade Kursk for some of its own has decreased significantly.

Last week, the president of the Loladimir Zelensky said he believed that Kursk’s operation “fulfilled its task”, forcing Russia to pull troops from the east and lifted pressure on Pokrovsk.

But it is not yet clear what cost.