March 10, 2025 (EIRNS)—The news broke on March 8 that Russian forces had sharply escalated their offensive, aimed at driving Ukrainian troops out of what remains of their foothold inside Russia, in and around the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) had invaded the Kursk Region last August. After three days of fighting, the Russian forces are advancing from the east, west, north and south towards the town, retaking control of village after village, and taking many POWs north of the town while threatening to surround the remaining Ukrainian forces based in Sudzha itself. Estimates of how many AFU troops are in the area range from 6,000 troops by Russian estimates, to 10,000 according to Ukrainian claims. Simultaneously, Russian forces stepped up their incursions into Ukraine’s adjourning Sumy region.
The Russian move is not complete as of this writing, but it has already delivered a timely blow to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s bluster of using the territory Ukraine held inside Russia as a bargaining chip in any negotiations. “A withdrawal ahead of peace talks would be a severe blow to Ukraine’s bargaining position. Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine’s occupation of Kursk is likely to play a crucial role in potential future negotiations,” the Kyiv Independent wrote in alarm March 8. Thus, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak and his delegation land in Saudi Arabia for Tuesday’s “peace talks” on March 11 with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with even the regime-supporting Kyiv Independent reporting that Russian troops have destroyed Ukrainian troops’ logistics in the area (the Russians have fire control over the two main supply roads from Ukraine’s Sumy Region to Sudzha) and the risk of encirclement is great. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was busy denying that Ukrainian units in Kursk are “currently” under threat of encirclement. “The units are taking timely measures to maneuver to favorable defense lines,” assured Syrskyi today.
