The Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kursk region surprised the Russian army. At one point, over 1,300 square kilometers of Russian territory were occupied. What happens a year later?
In August 2024, Ukrainian units crossed the Russian border and quickly advanced into the Kursk region - 30 km inside Russia, capturing the city of Sudzha, ARD recalls. The Russian army was completely surprised at the beginning.
A year later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the offensive as a historic operation. "We brought the war to the aggressor's territory and are still operating there," he said in one of his video addresses. At a time when many were about to lose faith in Ukraine, Ukrainians demonstrated that they knew what they were doing, he added.
For the first time since WWII, a foreign army enters Russia
Zelensky did not mention what territory in Kursk is still under the control of the Ukrainian army. Last year, at one point, over 1,300 square kilometers were occupied. For the first time since World War II, a foreign army entered Russian territory. For Ukraine, this was the first significant offensive in a long time.
In the previous weeks and months, mostly bad news about the state of the front had come from the Ukrainian side. In the east, the Ukrainian army had to retreat further and further. Even then, Russia had managed to conquer many areas, especially in the region around Pokrovsk. The events in Kursk initially successfully diverted attention.
The role of North Korean soldiers
"Many of our soldiers across the entire front were very enthusiastic", military expert Oleksiy Hetman told ARD about the events at the time. He sees Kursk not only as a symbolic success that boosted the morale of the military. "The Russians began to gather their troops, withdrawing them from different parts of the front. Not only from Kharkov and Sumy - they even withdrew personnel from their only aircraft carrier." According to the expert, Russia has deployed up to 90,000 soldiers in this part of the front.
In Kursk, Russia also relied on its allies from abroad, the German public media recalls. For the first time, North Korean soldiers also stood on the Russian side in the war against Ukraine. Kim Jong-un is believed to have sent 10,000 troops to Russia, a figure that was eventually officially confirmed by the Kremlin.
Estimates of the operation vary
But by March of this year, the Ukrainian army had almost completely withdrawn from Kursk. Some observers are questioning whether the operation should have been ended earlier. Former Ukrainian Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories Vadim Chernysh said: "Over the course of the year, we lost three times more Ukrainian land than we managed to hold for a short time in Kursk."
From the very beginning, there were different opinions in Ukrainian society regarding the Kursk offensive, ARD points out. In a poll conducted at the time, 34 percent viewed the operation positively, 35 percent had a rather negative view, and the rest abstained.
Increasing shelling of Sumy
On the anniversary of the Kursk offensive, Zelensky visited the soldiers who took part in the operation and thanked them. "Thanks to the fact that you captured over 1,000 Russians, we were able to bring over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers home." The Ukrainian army managed to capture many Russian soldiers in Kursk, some of whom were later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners.
The soldiers that Zelensky visited on the anniversary are now stationed in Sumy. Sumy region borders Kursk, explains ARD. And after the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Kursk, it has been the subject of increasingly intense attacks. The Russian army has so far occupied about 200 square kilometers of Sumy - less than one percent of the entire region.