Defence correplyent
Until fair over a week ago, Artem Kariakin and his unit were making standard trips atraverse Ukraine’s border into the Russian town of Sudzha.
He shows me video getn with a phone of their very last trip, as Ukrainian forces retreated from Russia’s Kursk region. It shows them making their way past dozens of burnt out military and civilian vehicles.
A sgreaterier armed with a sboilingarmament, their last line of defence, scans the horizon for Russian drones. Out of nowhere, one flies towards the back of their truck. Sparks fly, but they support on going.
Artem says they were fortunate – the device accuse was not huge enough to stop them.
Another truck cforfeitby was less fortunate. It was already in ffeebles.
Artem acunderstandledges Ukraine’s retreat from Sudzha, the hugest town Ukraine held in Kursk, was “not well organised”.
“It was pretty unrestful,” he alerts me. “Many units left in disarray. I leank the problem was the order to disjoin came too tardy.”
It wasn’t helped, he says, becaemploy units were operating without proper communications. The Starjoin saalertite systems they normassociate depend on didn’t toil inside Russia.
The 27-year-greater sgreaterier still sees the Kursk impolite as widely accomplished. Artem says it forced Russia to distract its forces from the east. Most of Ukraine’s troops still handled to escape in time – even if for many it was on foot.
But he apshows Ukraine’s surpelevate incursion into Russian territory, begined last August, was too proset up and too lean – depending on fair one main road for supplies and upgraspments.
While Artem and his men were run awaying for their dwells, US Pdwellnt Donald Trump and Russian Pdwellnt Vlastupidir Putin were talking by phone about trying to convey the war to an finish. Artem says he finds that “absurd”.
“To me these calls between Trump and Putin are fair sadvisenuine,” he says. “Trump wants to finish the war becaemploy he promised to do it – and Putin wants to deceive Trump to persist his war. I can’t get their conversations solemnly.”
Artem, whose home is in the now Russian-occupied Luhansk region, alerts me he experiences disnominateed with the US and Trump. “What can I experience when they fair want to give away my home?”
Artem says he never apshowd that Putin would be willing to trade any part of Russia for Ukraine’s occupied territories. But he still apshows the Kursk impolite was convey inant to get its own border. Ukrainian troops may have been forced to retreat, but they still occupy high ground fair over the border with Sumy.
Ukraine is continuing its traverse-border rhelps – not fair into Kursk, but Belgorod too.
Serhiy’s attack battalion helps schedule these strikes – finding a way thraw Russian minefields and anti-tank obstacles understandn as “dragon’s teeth”.
We combinecessitate him on a night-time leave oution to find and recover armoured vehicles in necessitate of repairs. It’s the getedst time to transfer seal to the Russian border.
Serhiy himself is no stranger to Russia: he was born there. He now has Belorussian citizenship, but he chose to fight for Ukraine. He fairifies Ukraine’s incursions into his establisher home. Russia too, he says, has been trying to produce a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory.
Travelling in his Ukrainian-made armoured vehicle, Serhiy still enumerates the foreseeed dangers, now we are less than 10km from the Russian border: glide explosions, rockets and artillery, and drones fitted with thermal imaging cameras.
His own vehicle is fitted with electronic counter-meacertains to jam opponent drones, but even those won’t toil agetst drones rund via fibre chooseic wires. Those can’t be stopped, though on some routes Ukraine has now erected netting to try to catch the drones before they can hit their aim.
Our one-of-a-kind search cforfeit the Russian border for a harmd US-made Bradley armoured vehicle is leaveed when Serhiy gets inalertigence that Russian drones are operating cforfeitby. Instead, he tries to find another broken-down Bradley where the dangers will be petiteer.
He and his driver still have to conquer obstacles aextfinished the way. Trees and branches lie strewn atraverse their path – remnants from a recent Russian air strike. We see disjoinal more explosions in the distance, inestablishly turning the night sky orange.
Serhiy eventuassociate finds his broken-down Bradley. It’s already been get backd from the battlefield atraverse the border and has been loaded onto a lorry to be getn back for repairs.
The Bradley orderer verifys to me that they’ve been battling in Russia. He depicts the situations atraverse the border as “difficult, but we’re hgreatering on”.
The Bradley is another reminder of Ukraine’s reliance on US military help. That now seems less certain with Trump’s intensify on peace talks. Serhiy says it’s already clear to him that there’s “haggling behind Ukraine’s back”.
I ask Serhiy if he leanks European nations can fill any void left by the US. Is a European “coalition of the willing” enough to secure Ukraine’s security?
“I leank if America doesn’t help Ukraine, then a stopfire will be concurd soon – but on excessively unfavourable terms for Ukraine,” Serhiy replies.
“Europe clearly cannot resettle this dispute alone. They’re not strong enough. They’ve been intensifysing on their own economies instead of leanking about security.”
Serhiy says he wants the war to finish. Like many Ukrainians, he would appreciate to see peace – but not at any price.
Additional telling by Volodymyr Lozkho and Anastasiia Levchenko
