Ukrainian forces captured over 100 Russian troops in the largest single surrender since the start of the war two and a half years ago, according to multiple reports.
The latest victory is part of a surprise incursion launched by Ukraine into Russian territory earlier this month. The surrender will not please Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was already visibly rattled during a testy televised meeting with officials earlier this week.
The Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda posted a video on X Thursday, which it said came from a source at the country’s Security Service, showing dozens of Russian soldiers lying with their hands at their heads after surrender.
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The Telegram channel for I Want to Live, a hotline for Russian soldiers who want to surrender run by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, which also posted the video, added multiple pictures of “the largest one-time ‘catch’ since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”
Officials confirmed to the Ukrainian newspaper and Bloomberg News that the men, 102 total, were captured at a large underground facility in Kursk Oblast, the Russian region where Ukraine launched its surprise incursion on August 6. They were said to be heavily stocked with ammunition and supplies, while the bunker was outfitted with a dining hall, armory, and bathhouse.
Ukraine's incursion has set Russia on edge and rattled its tyrannical leader. In a heated, televised meeting with top officials on Monday, Putin angrily blamed the West—“fighting with the hands of Ukrainians—over the loss of Russian territory and, in a tacit admission that it has failed to do so, insisted his country’s military must “ensure the reliable protection of the state border.”
The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that Ukraine has taken control of around square miles of Russian territory and over 82 combined villages and towns. He delivered the news in a video briefing, excerpts of which were posted on Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel.
In a video address, also published to his Telegram channel on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine set up a military command post in the Kursk town of Sudzha, home to an important Russian natural gas measuring station that connects to Europe.
On top of capturing hundreds of soldiers and seizing territory, Ukraine’s surprise incursion has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians and represents the most significant attack on Russia since World War II.
Analysts generally agree that Ukraine’s incursion is designed to pull Russian troops away from the front lines in eastern Ukraine, where the country has slowly lost ground in recent weeks, and to capture troops and territory that can act as bargaining chips in potential negotiations.
The acting regional governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, said on Telegram that civilians were being evacuated from the Glushkovo region, about 30 miles northwest of Sudzha, suggesting fears of further territorial losses.
