Ukraine is still holding swathes of territory in the Kursk region of Russia, seven weeks after a lightning offensive designed to draw Russian troops away from eastern Ukraine and gain leverage in potential peace negotiations with Moscow. FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris Trent was given access to Ukrainian-held areas of Kursk region, embedded with the Ukrainian army and a small number of journalists.
Ukraine has been controlling parts of Russia’s Kursk region since the beginning of August, when its forces mounted a lightning offensive and breached Moscow’s defences in a move that surprised many of Kyiv’s own allies.
Ukrainian officers say some 2,000 Russian civilians remain in the areas they control, while many more have fled. Some locals come to collect food parcels but are largely suspicious or hostile towards the Ukrainian troops.
“Putin is Putin, he’s a great guy,” one resident told FRANCE 24. Another fought back tears as she addressed Ukrainian troops, saying: “Why don’t you just take us all out and shoot us? You think everything is our fault!”
Read moreWhy Ukraine’s Kursk offensive has failed to distract Russia from Donbas push
Oleksiy, a Ukrainian commander charged with overseeing the Russian population, tried to convince the locals of the realities of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Literally, when Russia showed villages they said they’d liberated, there was not a single house left standing,” he told an elderly resident, using a tablet screen to show pictures of the destruction wrought by Russian troops in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv’s forces have taken more than 1,300 square kilometres of territory inside Kursk. But it is unclear how long they can hold on to this land with a Russian counter-offensive already under way.
Click on the player above to watch FRANCE 24’s exclusive report.
