VLADIMIR Putin’s humiliation over the Ukraine blitz has intensified with the biggest Russian town captured since World War Two falling to Kyiv’s forces.
The hugely strategic Sudzha is now in the hands of Ukrainian troops, President Volodymyr Zelensky says.
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Sudzha is a pivotal town due to the amount of Russian gas flowing through it.
Zelensky declared a military commanders office was now being established there as the rampage into Russia continues.
The Kursk town had a prewar population of 5,000, which would make it Ukraine’s biggest triumph in Russia so far.
It would also be the largest Russian town takeover since Nazi Germany invaded the country in the Second World War.
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The town holds an extra layer of significance because gas from West Siberia passes through pipes in Sudzha, before flowing onto Ukraine and into Europe.
As much as half of Russian natural gas sent into Europe travelled through the town in 2023 and makes up three to five per cent of EU consumption.
It comes after a Ukrainian news channel broadcast footage showing soldiers ripping down Russian flags from a building in Sudzha.
They shout: “Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes”.
Ukraine’s surge into Russia has claimed a huge slice of Vlad’s territory in just over a week, raiding the regions of Kursk and neighbouring Belgorod.
Soldiers on Sunday were seen hoisting their flag on Russian soil.
Amazing footage showed a group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine laughing around in the village of Guevo, Kursk.
One of the soldiers can be seen carrying a flag of Ukraine up to a building as he proudly hands it over to his pal who is stood up on a wall.
He then climbs as high up the wall as possible before planting the flag into a holster attached to the building.
A Russian flag can be seen dumped on the floor to make room for the Ukrainian flag.
Authorities say more than 120,000 Kursk citizens have fled amid the shock incursion by Zelensky’s men.
A state of emergency was also declared in Belgorod.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in a Telegram message on Monday: “The entire territory of the Belgorod region is a MISSILE DANGER.
“Go down to the basement. Stay there until you receive the signal ‘all clear missile danger.'”
Ukraine’s chief commander Oleksandr Syrsky says his troops have taken 1000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of Russian turf, a claim refuted by Moscow.
Zelensky said on Tuesday night his soldiers controlled 74 settlements, with the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) finding the figure was at least 41.
Vlad and his cronies have continued to insist Ukraine’s invasion is reckless and its troops will soon be wiped out.
But pictures and footage from the lightning surge shape as embarrassing for the tyrant, who is accused of running an operation sending untrained conscripts to their slaughter.
Video on Thursday showed more than 100 Kremlin fighters deciding to give up amid claims they were completely abandoned by commanders.
According to former Ukrainian adviser Anton Gerashchenko, a total of 102 troops waved the white flag – the biggest mass surrender of the war since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
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Ukrainian outlet Want to Live, which seeks to broker surrenders, said the troops couldn’t be blamed when a lack of Russian leadership left them rudderless.
A statement said: “More than 100 Russians abandoned by their commanders made the right decision and surrendered.
“They can be understood.
“It is hard to conduct military operations when you are commanded by tyrants and embezzlers, and the flanks are ‘covered’ by (Chechen leader Ramzan) Kadyrov’s bandits, who abandon everyone and everything, just so as not to be captured themselves.”
Concerns over flailing military leadership in the Russian ranks have been mounting for more than a year.
Slain warlord Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin – formerly hired by Vlad to send private troops into battle – warned over a year ago that corruption in the army would have devastating consequences.
He accused suck-up military chiefs of boot-licking their way to the top before spending time with their feet kicked up while young men were thrown into the furnace.
Prigozhin, who threatened to stage a dramatic Kremlin coup, foreshadowed that poor leadership could empower Ukraine to launch an invasion of its own.
But rather than heeding the advice of the Wagner mercenary boss, Vlad allegedly had him killed, blowing his plane out of the sky on August 23 last year.
Nearly 12 months on it appears the Prigozhin prophecy has been proven true as Russia scrambles to stave off Kyiv’s offensive.
The invasion is widely seen as a Ukraine ploy to stretch Russian resources, taking the heat off its own embattled regions.
Earlier this week it was announced some Russian troops had been ordered out of southern Ukraine to come back and defend their homeland, a sign the strategy is striking up success.
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