Ukraine’s surprise incursion of Kursk took the Russian military by surprise. Kyiv’s forces have advanced 35km inside Russia, with little resistance from the Russian troops defending the western border region.
Discipline appears to be breaking down within the Russian military ranks, as soldiers are repeatedly caught looting their own villages after being deployed to defend them. It is thought that many of the Russian troops deployed to Kursk were young conscripts with no experience of war.
Videos from security cameras this week shared on social media have shown Russian soldiers ransacking supply warehouses, pharmacies, phone stores, and clothing shops. Many of the videos come from Glushkovo, a village still under Russian military control.
In one video, a Telegram user films a street in Glushkovo and reveals that every shop on the street has been ransacked and left in disarray.
One CCTV camera also showed soldiers in Glushkovo stealing from a Wildberry warehouse – Russia‘s answer to Amazon. The camera footage is dated August 23.
Kursk governor Alexey Smirnov evacuated Glushkovo on August 14 – days after Ukraine launched an incursion into the region, while the Russian military stepped in to defend it
Tendar, a social media account that monitors the Ukraine–Russia war, tweeted a video of the looting, adding: “Just to paraphrase it, this is a Russian town, in a Russian province, INSIDE Russia, and the Russian army plunders it.
“More shops in Glushkovo have been looted by the Russian army. They are picking the town empty.”
It is thought that Ukraine is closing in on Glushkovo this weekend, with troops stationed around 12km from the village.
Russia has struggled to regain control of any territory seized by Ukraine.
Meanwhile, more than 130,000 Russians have been evacuated so far from the western Kursk region due to the ongoing incursion.
Ukraine’s incursion has taken control of 1,293 square kilometres (500 square miles) and 93 settlements. It marks the largest foreign attack on Russian territory since the Second World War.]
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky today described Ukraine‘s offensive into Russia‘s Kursk region as “justice” and a “boomerang for evil”.
In a speech marking 33 years since Ukraine‘s independence from the Soviet Union, Mr Zelensky vowed that “united we are able to win”.