Ukraine’s rapid offensive has seemingly caught President Putin off guard, with Russian forces in apparent chaos, retreating over 30km from their shattered defences. In the Kursk region, there are reports of Russian soldiers looting local villages amidst their hasty withdrawal.
A video shared on Telegram shows Russian troops rummaging through a plundered home, purportedly in the Kursk area, where an evacuation order for at least 121,000 residents has been issued due to Ukraine’s advancing forces. Amidst scattered personal belongings, one soldier laments that another Russian unit had already picked the house clean.
This alleged turmoil and pillaging among Russian ranks coincide with Putin’s demand for his military to “kick the enemy out of our territory”. Ukrainian forces have now seized control of a significant 1000 sq km portion of Russia’s Kursk region.
After six days into their new offensive, Ukrainian commanders report breaching 30km into Russian lands, with images surfacing of abandoned hamlets, strewn with wrecked Russian machinery and fallen troops.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed the progress of the offensive, stating: “The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control.”
Images circulating on Russian social media depict a supermarket that has been thoroughly looted, with the individual who posted the images claiming that “the desertion of villages and towns has become a catalyst for rampant looting.”
With thousands displaced and electricity scarce in much of the captured territory, the exact cause of the widespread looting remains uncertain. However, some details about Ukraine’s daring counter-offensive are beginning to surface.
Unverified reports from residents in Kursk suggest that part of the surprise offensive may have been executed using quad bikes. “Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belovsky district ‘entered’ the district territory on quad bikes. At least two such groups were seen by local residents,” a Russian Telegram channel reported.
Stunned by the first prolonged incursion into Russian territory since the conflict began, Putin addressed the nation via television on Monday, labelling the offensive a “major provocation. He said: ” He stated: “One of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord, strife, intimidate people, destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society. The main task is, of course, for the defence ministry to dislodge the enemy from our territories.”
On the same night, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky finally acknowledged his country’s significant offensive, which he defended by saying: “Russia must be forced to make peace if Putin wants to fight so badly.
“Russia brought war to others, now it’s coming home. Ukraine has always wanted only peace, and we will certainly ensure peace,”.
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