It’s official. Ukraine’s Kursk party is over! After losing almost 55,000 soldiers on Russian soil, Kyiv forces are about to retreat. Kyiv troops might soon lose control of the Russian region of Kursk, which they attacked last year. This would be a significant setback for Ukraine and Zelensky.
The West-backed Kyiv forces are struggling after months of intense fighting. US officials have revealed that Ukraine’s position in Kursk is critical. They warn that if Ukraine’s army stays too long in there, they risk being hounded by Russian forces within weeks. The message from the Trump administration is clear: Get the hell out of Kursk, right now!! Trump knows Putin would agree for peace only when Kyiv forces retreat from the Russian region.
This approach taken by Trump is much different from that of Biden. The outgoing president had approved his final multi-billion-dollar aid package for Ukraine. Biden signed off nearly $6 billion in military aid and budget support. The idea was to double down on Kursk invasion but alas! The money never arrived in time.
Now, there are rumours that Trump may soon freeze economic and military aid to Kyiv. Even though Zelensky claims the aid is still flowing. In August last year, Ukraine happened to capture about 1,000 square kilometers of land in Kursk. Since then, however, Russia has reclaimed at least half of that territory. Russian forces have also sent thousands of reinforcements to the area. West and South Korea have also claimed that Russia even imported 12,000 troops from North Korea.
Now, Trump officials are hoping that Zelensky will retreat to avoid further casualties. Zelensky initially vowed to hold Kursk “indefinitely.” However, his aides now indicate that Ukraine forces will stay only as long as the situation allows or may be as long as Trump allows.
For Ukraine, the crisis is real. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine’s military has faced 55,000 casualties, including wounded soldiers, since its operation began in the Kursk region.
According to the ministry, Ukraine is losing around 180 soldiers every day in Kursk alone.
On the other hand, Zelensky claims that Russian military casualties in the Kursk operation have surpassed 38,000. He added that “approximately 15,000 of these are irrecoverable losses.”
A retreat from Kursk by Ukraine could impact peace talks expected to take place in coming weeks. Ukraine had hoped to use its gains in Kursk as leverage to negotiate the return of Russian-occupied territory within Ukraine’s borders.
Trump advisors are also in contact with the Kremlin about potential peace terms. One offer given to Russia was like this: US would delay Ukraine’s NATO membership for 20 years in exchange for a ceasefire. However, Russia rejected the proposal, possibly aiming for better terms once Kyiv forces are driven out of Kursk.
Zelensky also knows that Russia is bent on retaking Kursk. He said, “For [Vladimir] Putin, the most important thing is to push us out of the Kursk region. It is very critical for him to demonstrate that he is in control of the situation.”
Russia has also made significant progress on Ukraine’s eastern front. Over the last year, Russian forces captured six times more land in the east than they did in the previous year. For now, the only viable solution for Ukraine is to just follow what Trump says and put an immediate end to this Democrat-backed war.
