KYIV, Dec 28 (AP): 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 gone in at all.
Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can't evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives, and troops have little way to counterattack, seven front-line soldiers and commanders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could discuss sensitive operations.
Since being caught unaware by the lightning Ukrainian incursion, Russia has amassed more than 50,000 troops in the region, including some from its ally North Korea. Precise numbers are hard to obtain, but Moscow's counterattack has killed and wounded thousands and the overstretched Ukrainians have lost more then 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk they seized in August.
Its full-scale invasion three years ago left Russia holding a fifth of Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hinted that he hopes controlling Kursk will help force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.
But five Ukrainian and Western officials in Kyiv who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss sensitive military matters said they fear gambling on Kursk will weaken the whole 1000-kilometer (621-mile) front line, and Ukraine is losing precious ground in the east.
"We have, as they say, hit a hornet's nest. We have stirred up another hot spot," said Stepan Lutsiv, a major in the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. The border raid that became an occupation
Army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Ukraine launched the operation because officials thought Russia was about to launch a new attack on northeast Ukraine.
It began on Aug. 5 with an order to leave Ukraine's Sumy region for what they thought would be a nine-day raid to stun the enemy. It became an occupation that Ukrainians welcomed as their smaller country gained leverage and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gathering his men, one company commander told them: "We're making history; the whole world will know about us because this hasn't been done since World War II. Privately, he was less certain. "It seemed crazy," he said. "I didn't understand why."
Shocked by success achieved largely because the Russians were caught by surprise, the Ukrainians were ordered to advance beyond the original mission to the town of Korenevo, 25 kilometers (16 miles) into Russia.
