SUMY OBLAST, Ukraine — Ukraine’s seven-month-old sortie into the Russian province of Kursk is on the verge of collapse after Moscow’s troops broke through Kyiv’s defensive line near the Russian town of Sudzha on Friday, The Post has learned.
As Ukrainians fought to counter a flood of Russian drones, missiles, artillery and glide bombs Thursday night without access to US intelligence, Kremlin forces managed to overcome the battlefront that kept them at bay for more than half a year — in a supreme embarrassment to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We can confirm the quantity of attacks increased with glide bombs, Shaheds and [first-person view] drones,” said Capt. Alexander Kabanov, deputy commander of the electronic warfare battalion of the 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade.
A second military commander in Kursk added that while there “is no certain information,” roughly “eight to 10 dune buggies of Russians broke through two to three [Ukrainian] positions” in the area.
“Behind those positions, the land was empty [and undefended], so they made a swift raid — covered by artillery and drones from the rear — and cut that part off.”
The Ukrainian office of the Chief of the General Staff and the Kursk operation’s spokesperson declined to comment for this article.
Days earlier, troops who fight in Kursk told The Post that Kyiv could abandon its bold operation as soon as two weeks from now, citing limited access in and out of the region.
The incursion began on Aug. 19, when Ukrainian forces pushed across the border separating Sumy and Kursk oblasts.
The surprise nature of the attack “made it possible to make a breakthrough and occupy a large territory in a short time,” Kabanov said.
“The enemy in response transferred significant forces and means, and were able to slow down and later stop the advance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” he added.
While the campaign was initially a success because it distracted Russian forces and slowed them down in more strategically important areas, Kabanov acknowledged it also removed critical Ukrainian manpower from those fights.
“A greater effect was probably expected,” he said, adding that the “victory” for Ukraine had been the “political and psychological effect” of the Kursk operation on Putin.
“Capturing Sudzha is an achievement, a certain demonstration of strength and capabilities,” Kabanov said. “Did this actually achieve anything in the long term? As we see — no.”
Some troops in Kursk — who asked to remain anonymous — said they believed Kyiv’s fight to keep control of the seized Russian territory was “political,” adding that the operation was causing higher casualty rates than it was worth.
“Compared to other areas and clashes, it is clear that for Russia, the issue of pushing our troops out of the Kursk region is of fundamental importance, therefore the intensity of the fighting and the number of forces and equipment involved is high,” Kabanov said.
For that reason, Paul Schwennesen, an American military veteran and strategist who previously volunteered with Ukrainian forces in Kursk, said retreat from Russia would be “mostly a morale loss” for Ukraine.
“The bargaining position is effectively moot since peace settlements are extremely unlikely in any event,” said Schwennesen, who serves as the director of Global Strategy Decisions Group.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has kept up hope that he could trade the Russian region to gain some of Ukraine’s territory back in a potential peace settlement with Moscow.
But the Trump administration’s actions over the past week — pausing aid shipments Monday night and cutting off intelligence sharing — have tied Kyiv’s hands behind their backs, both Ukrainian and American defense experts say.
Putin has also rejected the notion of land swaps publicly, saying he would not trade any part of Russian land in a settlement — nor make any other concessions.
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said “Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Pokrovsk direction” — a strategically important position in southeast Ukraine.
However, Russian forces have also recently advanced “in the Kupyansk, Borova, Siversk, Pokrovsk, and Kurakhove directions,” according to the Institute’s assessment.
“Putin and other Kremlin officials explicitly rejected making any concessions in future peace negotiations or accepting any US, European, or Ukrainian peace proposals, and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) rejected the possibility of a negotiated ceasefire on March 6,” the institute said in its most recent analysis of the three-year-old war.
Still, troops in the Ukrainian Armed Forces say they have no intention of giving up the larger fight for their country’s independence and sovereignty.
“What choice do we have?” said a Ukrainian defender with whom The Post embedded in Sumy Oblast Thursday night. “This is our home.”
