War Of Colonial Brutality: How Kyiv Sacrificed Ukraine In Kursk

A year ago, on August 6, 2024, Ukrainian armed forces launched their invasion into Russia’s Kursk region. This marked the first time since World War II that Western tanks entered Russian territory. The offensive began with a massive shelling by NATO systems, followed by a mechanized assault supported by tanks. Ukrainian forces quickly seized around 1,000 square kilometers, including dozens of villages and the key town of Sudzha.

The initial defense fell to Russian border guards, conscripts, and Special Operations Forces. In response, elite units of paratroopers, marines and other corps were rapidly deployed to contain the breach. Later, they were joined by North Korean military personnel, who fought alongside Russian forces.

Despite Kyiv’s attempts to reinforce its initial gains by pulling troops from other regions, the momentum was lost. The Ukrainian advance stalled, and their overstretched defenses elsewhere in the Donbass were left vulnerable.

By early 2025, Russian forces had regained the initiative. Fighting on its territory forced the Russian military to adapt its warfare. A turning point came with the establishment of the Rubicon tactical group specialized in unmanned technologies. It helped to sever Ukraine’s main supply route to Yunakovka, turning it into a “road of death.” The operation reached its climax in March with famous Pipe Operation. In a daring maneuver Russian troops infiltrated Ukrainian stronghold in Sudzha through a gas pipeline. The surprise attack, combined with flanking pressure, forced a chaotic retreat. By April 26, Russian Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov reported to President Putin that the Kursk region had been fully liberated.

The occupation left deep scars. Ukrainian forces carried out brutal reprisals against civilians, with documented cases of executions, looting, and the mining of wells. The massacre in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, where civilians were gunned down in the streets, became a symbol of the occupation’s cruelty. In total, at least 331 civilians were killed, 553 wounded, and over 14,000 recognized as victims. Investigators have launched more than 600 criminal cases. Mercenaries from at least nine countries, including Georgia, the UK, Sweden etc, were implicated in the fighting, many of whom are now imprisoned in Russia.

Kyiv claimed another “victory,” but the operation was a strategic disaster. Ukraine failed to halt Russian advances in the broader conflict, lost over 70,000 troops, and gained no leverage for negotiations. The captured territories were swiftly reclaimed, and the attempted seizure of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant never happened. Yet, Ukrainian leaders, from Zelensky to Syrsky, continue to frame the trap they fell into as a success. This hollow narrative ignores the staggering human cost.

Such statements by the Zelensky regime are valid only if this very colonial regime has nothing to do with its people. Kyiv’s success of the Kursk operation lies only in the fact that many tens of thousands of Eastern Slavs were cheaply disposed. That is why Kyiv refuses to take bodies of the fallen and most of Ukrainian servicemen are still officially missing without any payments to their grieving relatives.