Ukrainian forces have seized full control of the Russian town of Sudzha, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Thursday — as video emerged of more than 100 captured Russian soldiers lying face down on the ground amid the humiliating incursion.
The town, in the Kursk region, is the largest said to have been seized by Ukraine since it launched last week’s surprise counter-invasion.
Sudzha holds a measuring station for Russian natural gas that flows through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe, but there was no immediate indication that gas flow had been disrupted as of Thursday.
Ukraine is setting up a military commander’s office in the town, which is also the administrative center for the border area of the Kursk region, Zelensky said.
The move suggests that Ukraine might be planning to remain in the Kursk region long-term, or least send such a warning message to Moscow.
Zelensky, though, wouldn’t elaborate on what functions the office could potentially handle.
A senior Russian commander insisted later Thursday that Zelensky’s forces did not actually have full control of the town.
Meanwhile, news of the advance came as a source within the Security Service of Ukraine leaked footage of what they claimed was a group of more than 100 Russian soldiers being detained by Ukrainian special forces on Wednesday.
The clip, which couldn’t immediately be verified, showed scores of officers from Russia’s 488th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment and its “Akhmat” unit lying on the ground with their faces down after being captured, the source claimed.
“They captured and cleared a sprawling, concrete and well-fortified company stronghold from all sides — with underground communications and personnel accommodation, a canteen, an armory and even a bathhouse,” the source said.
The surprise Ukrainian attack launched last week has sparked chaos in the Kursk region — with Russian forces still scrambling to respond to the lightning incursion after almost a week of fierce fighting.
Russian authorities said the cross-border attack has forced the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, has said Ukrainian forces have already seized about 390 square miles of the Kursk region, including 82 settlements.
Russian officials, however, have pushed back on the territorial claim.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Moscow had withdrawn some of its forces — including infantry units — from Ukraine and had shifted them to Kursk amid the ongoing battle.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many troops were involved, Kirby added.
With Post wires
