Nearly four months after Ukrainian forces launched a bold offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, soldiers stationed there are painting a grim picture of their reality. Messages sent via Telegram reveal a narrative of confusion, exhaustion, and fear as they contend with a battle they struggle to comprehend—and one they may be losing.
BBC reported that they have been in contact with several soldiers serving in Kursk, including one who has recently left the region. For safety reasons, the identities of the soldiers are being withheld.
The soldiers describe brutal weather conditions, a chronic lack of sleep due to Russia’s relentless bombardment—some involving massive 3,000kg glide bombs—and their retreat as Russian forces slowly reclaim territory.
Telegram messages accessed by BBC reveal a soldier, Pavlo (name changed), stating that the trend will continue, adding, “It’s only a matter of time.”
Pavlo describes intense fatigue, a lack of rotation, and the arrival of units mostly consisting of middle-aged men pulled from other fronts with little to no time to rest. While such conditions are common in war, they have led to increasing frustration.
Under relentless pressure from Russian forces and with winter setting in, optimism is scarce. The messages, according to BBC, are nearly uniformly bleak, suggesting that motivation is a significant issue.
Some soldiers are questioning whether the initial goal of the operation—to divert Russian forces from Ukraine’s eastern front—has been achieved. Their current orders, they say, are to hold onto this small section of Russian territory until the end of January, when a new US president takes office and may shift policies. “The main task facing us is to hold the maximum territory until Trump’s inauguration and the start of negotiations,” Pavlo said. “In order to exchange it for something later. No one knows what.”
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By the end of November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also acknowledged that both sides were aware of the shift in US leadership. “I am sure that he [Vladimir Putin] wants to push us out by January 20,” he said. “It is very important for him to demonstrate that he controls the situation. But he does not control the situation.”
To support Ukraine’s efforts in Kursk, the US, UK, and France have allowed Kyiv to use long-range weapons to target Russian assets within Russian territory. However, these strikes seem distant to the soldiers on the front lines. “No one sits in a cold trench and prays for missiles,” Pavlo said. “We live and fight here and now. And missiles fly somewhere else.”
While long-range missiles like Atacms and Storm Shadow may have inflicted damage on Russian command posts and ammunition depots, such successes seem far removed from the soldiers’ reality.
For Ukraine, the slow advance of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine emphasizes the importance of holding ground in Kursk. In October alone, Russia occupied about 500 sq km of Ukrainian land—its largest territorial gain since the early days of the invasion in 2022. By contrast, Ukraine has already lost around 40 percent of the land it captured in Kursk in August. Some soldiers, however, feel they are in the wrong place. They believe the eastern front is more critical and question the purpose of occupying Russian territory.
In late November, reports suggested that as many as 10,000 North Korean troops had been deployed to join Russia’s counteroffensive in Kursk. However, the soldiers BBC spoke with have yet to encounter any of them.
The Ukrainian military has released recordings they claim are intercepts of North Korean radio communications. Soldiers have been instructed to capture at least one North Korean prisoner, preferably one with documents, and rewards—drones or extra leave—are being offered to those who succeed. Veterans of previous, failed operations see unsettling parallels to what is unfolding in Kursk. Between October 2023 and July 2024, Ukrainian forces attempted to hold a small bridgehead at Krynky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River, about 25 miles upstream from Kherson. The operation, initially seen as a potential springboard for further advances, was ultimately lost—and at great cost. As many as 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are thought to have been killed or gone missing.
But soldiers worry that a similar fate may be unfolding in Kursk.
Military analysts, however, argue that the Kursk operation continues to serve an important role.
“It’s the only area where we maintain the initiative,” Serhiy Kuzan from the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre said. He acknowledged the incredibly difficult conditions Ukrainian forces are facing in Kursk but pointed out that Russia has been forced to allocate substantial resources to pushing them out—resources that could otherwise be used elsewhere.
“The longer we can hold this Kursk front—with adequate equipment, artillery, Himars, and long-range weapons to strike their rear—the better,” Kuzan said.
In Kyiv, senior commanders continue to support the Kursk operation, insisting it still delivers military and political benefits.
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