Russian troops surrender to Ukrainians in Kursk region
- 11 August, 08:40
As Ukrainian troops are advancing in Russia’s Kursk region following surprise incursion on Russian soil this week, reports are emerging of Russian troops surrendering en masse to Ukrainians.
Ukrainian Telegram channels have published a series of video footage showing Russian army units, including what appears to be border guards, hand themselves over to Ukrainian troops in the region. In one of the videos that have gone viral on social media, Chechen fighters are shown being taken hostages. The blindfolded Chechen fighters said they belonged to the “Akhmat” unit under the Russian army. According to Ukrainian media reports, 300 Russian soldiers were taken hostage in the first two days of Ukraine’s incursion on Kursk. Forty of them were reportedly captured on August 7, while 35 others were taken hostage the following day. The videos of Russian POWs in the Kursk region have gone viral in the Ukrainian social media sector.
There have been no official reports coming from Russia or Ukraine about the alleged hostage-taking operation in Kursk.
The Kremlin has confirmed that Ukrainian troops have advanced up to 30km inside Russia, with Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova accusing Kyiv of "intimidating the peaceful population of Russia". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who confirmed that Ukrainian troops were fighting inside Russia, said on Saturday that “Ukraine is proving that it really knows how to restore justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor."
Zelensky said that thousands of strikes on Ukraine’s territory launched from Russia’s Kursk region deserve a fair response.
