Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk.

After a surprise offensive earlier this year, Ukraine’s forces have lost about half the territory seized in Russia’s Kursk region and may lose the rest in a matter of months, according to US officials,

KYIV: Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk, a region some want to hold at all costs, while others question the value of having ventured in at all.

Anonymous US officials believe that should Russia intensify its efforts to push Ukrainian forces out of Kursk Oblast from the start of the new year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces may need to retreat by spring 2025 to avoid encirclement.