Russian forces appear to have retaken at least a dozen villages in their embattled Kursk border region in recent days, throwing into doubt Ukraine’s continued control over the narrow patch of Russian soil.
The Kursk region has been the site of an ongoing battle for the past seven months, after Ukrainian forces crossed into the Russian border region in a surprise assault in August of 2024. At the height of their offensive, Ukrainian forces held about 500 square miles of Russian soil.
As of last month, Russian forces reported they had forced Ukraine’s troops to less than 200 square miles.
Now, the Russians have taken another swathe of territory back from the Ukrainians, and they’re poised to close off the Kursk offensive altogether.
On March 8, reports first began to emerge that Russian forces had bypassed the Ukrainian lines near Sudzha by sneaking through a defunct gas pipeline that runs near the key town.
According to an account of the operation shared by a Russian commander who goes by the call-sign “Zombie,” Russian forces spent about three weeks preparing for the assault, pumping oxygen into the staging weapons and equipment and pumping oxygen into the defunct gas pipeline. Zombie said about 800 troops—comprised of elements of Russia’s Akhmat special operations unit, three separate airborne and air assault brigades, and a mechanized infantry unit—participated in the pipeline operation.
Separately, Russian Lt. Gen. Apty Alaudinov, an Akhmat commander, told Russia’s TASS news agency that the infiltration forces crawled for about nine miles through the pipeline and first emerged in a forested area near the village of Kubatkin, about five miles north of Sudzha.
Alaudinov said the pipeline infiltrators “immediately entered a forest, drove the enemy out, captured two strongholds, and then entered the village of Kubatkin.”
By March 11, Russia’s TASS news agency reported Russian forces had recaptured several villages covering about 40 square miles of territory surrounding the Kursk town of Sudzha.
Russian Forces Take Sudzha
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff initially reported their forces had detected the infiltration attempt through the gas pipeline and quickly began to eliminate these Russian forces with rockets, artillery shells, and attack drones.
“At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high,” the Ukrianian military leadership claimed in a March 8 statement.
Neither side has provided a precise casualty assessment of the pipeline assault and war-time casualty claims are generally difficult to independently verify.
While the Ukrainian military reported its troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian infiltrators, that does not appear to have stopped the Russian side from retaking some Kursk territory. Footage shared by pro-Russian accounts and since geolocated by FreeBase News appears to show Russian troops raising their flag in the Sudzha town square.
Other videos posted online show Russian troops smeared in gas residue, moving about freely above ground.
Russian accounts also shared footage, purporting to show dozens of surrendering Ukrainian troops.
Speaking to TASS, Alaudinov said, “Except for two or three villages around Sudzha, all other communities are under the control of Russian troops.”
Ukrainians Trying to Stabilize Situation
Since Ukrainian forces first entered the Kursk region last summer, analysts have continued to speculate just how long they will hold onto the swathe of Russian territory, and to what degree the operation would divert Russian forces from other areas of fighting inside Ukraine.
While the Russian military hasn’t been able to quickly retake their Kursk territory, their forces have managed to slowly wind back the Ukrainian offensive while simultaneously continuing to notch incremental territorial gains inside Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly presented Ukraine’s Kursk holdings as a bargaining chip that he may trade for the return of some territory Russian forces currently control within Ukraine. Now, with Russian troops retaking the that Kursk territory, Zelenskyy’s leverage may be faltering.
In a March 10 statement, Ukraine’s top general, Alexander Sirsky, reported he had dispatched more troops to reinforce the Kursk operation. But as of March 12, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported its forces were continuing to retake villages in the areas surrounding Sudzha, and said Ukrainian forces were in retreat.
This article was originally published by FreeBase News and is reprinted with permission.
