The city of Sudzha is said to have fallen under the control of Russian troops

On the morning of March 12, pro-war Telegram channels in Russia posted videos showing soldiers raising the Russian flag in the center of Sudzha. Analysis of the videos confirms that Ukrainian soldiers have completely left the city.

Ruslan Leviev, founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team investigative project, also noted that “it can be said that practically the entire city of Sudzha has already passed under the control of Russian troops,” noting that units of the Ukrainian armed forces are leaving their positions in an organized manner and that the Russians are retaking the territories almost without a fight.

“We have seen that all the territories that have gradually passed under the control of Russian troops have been captured almost without a fight. The same thing happened with Sudzha. Yesterday [March 11], video footage appeared showing Russian troops on the eastern outskirts of the city. Today we see Russian troops on this outskirts of the city. There are no more fighting scenes... In fact, we can already say that the entire city of Sudzha has passed under the control of Russian troops,” Leviev said.

He predicted that the Ukrainian military would completely leave the Kursk region in the coming hours: “This story will probably end today. Maybe they will try to hold on to the border villages for another day or two. But in general, the history of the Kursk bridgehead is coming to an end and the Ukrainian troops are leaving.”

The Rybar Telegram channel, which is close to the Russian Defense Ministry, also wrote that the Ukrainian armed forces have been systematically withdrawing their most experienced units from the Kursk region and relocating them to the Donetsk region in the past few days.

In its daily morning report, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of five settlements - Kazachya Loknya, 1-Knyazhi, 2-Knyazhi, Zamoste and Mirny. The first three of them are located north of Sudzha, and the last two are directly adjacent to the city from the south. At the same time, the report did not mention Sudzha itself.

Kiev has not officially commented on the Russian army's offensive in the Kursk region. RBC-Ukraine noted that the daily battle maps officially published by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on March 10 and 11 showed a significant reduction in the area controlled by the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commenting on the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, said at a press briefing that the troops were performing their tasks in the Kursk region, and the command was trying to save the lives of the fighters.

“Our troops in the Kursk region are performing their tasks. The Russians are trying to put as much pressure on our troops as possible. The [Ukrainian] military command is doing what it should: it is doing its utmost to save the lives of our soldiers,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Russian troops took advantage of the US’s temporary suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine from March 5 to March 11 last week to launch a large-scale offensive in the Kursk region and liberate a number of settlements.

The center of Sudzha district, which had a population of five thousand before the war, has been occupied by Ukrainians since mid-August 2024 - it was the only settlement with the status of a city that Ukrainian military captured in the Kursk region. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”