Vladimir Putin’s army is “only second in the rankings, even in Russia,” a senior Ukrainian commander boasted yesterday, as Kiev pushed further into enemy territory.
Ukrainian special forces Lt. Col. Vano Nadiradze said more than 2,000 prisoners have been taken since the daring raid in Russia’s Kursk region last week.
Yesterday, a £30million Russian Sukhoi Su-34 bomber was shot down and airfields were “devastated” in the largest series of drone attacks across Ukraine since the full-scale invasion of the Kremlin in February 2022.
Colonel Nadiradze told the Daily Mail how sophisticated radar jamming devices helped “deceive and disable” disorganised Russian forces in Kursk, allowing Ukraine to seize large swaths of land.
“We have more than 2,000 Russian prisoners so far, and they are not just conscripts, but skilled fighters, including FSB troops,” he said last night.
Putin faces humiliation after Ukrainian advance on Kursk and Belgorod
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard as he monitors a line of Russian prisoners of war in Kursk
Ukrainian soldiers operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
‘This operation was two months in the making, with extensive planning and reconnaissance to make the initial push as successful as possible. Everything was meticulously planned, down to the last detail – and kept completely secret.
‘Our anti-radar systems have worked wonders. The Akhmat [a special forces unit under the command of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov] was charged with the supervision of these areas, but we have completely fooled and destroyed them.’
He added that Ukrainian forces have fortified their positions up to 30 miles behind enemy lines with deep trenches.
And in the few confrontations with the Russian resistance, there was a good chance that Ukraine would lose 10-1, he claimed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that Ukrainian troops had made “good progress” and “achieved our strategic goals”.
Troops are now within range of several Russian ballistic missile bases and hundreds of Ukrainian fighters continue to stream into Kursk and the neighboring Belgorod region.
Colonel Nadiradze said: “You can already see the scale of our success in Russia: the hysteria among Russian military experts and bloggers, the fear on Putin’s face on Russian television.”
He said the raid had produced several “tremendous benefits.”
It relieved pressure on Sumy and Kharkov in northern Ukraine, as Russia used Kirsk as a launch pad for artillery bombardments on those regions.
It eased pressure on Donetsk in southern Ukraine, which Colonel Nadiradze said “became critical” after Russia was forced to withdraw five convoys there to defend its own border.
He added: “The Russians made a big mistake, because none of those convoys reached Kursk intact. On the way, our drones and missiles completely destroyed them.” It has also given Ukraine a huge bargaining chip in future peace negotiations.
Ukraine claims its forces now control 74 towns in Kursk Oblast, Reuters news agency reports.
A Ukrainian armored vehicle drives past a burned car near the border on Wednesday
Colonel Nadiradze, a Georgian conscript who received Ukraine’s highest award, the Medal of Heroism, said: “We have shown our friends in the West how vulnerable Russia is and how it will back down if you attack it.
“We have shown the world that the Russian army, which was once considered the second best army in the world, is in fact only the second best even in Russia.” Yesterday, satellite images confirmed that trenches have been dug in Kursk using heavy equipment.
President Zelensky said Ukraine now controls 74 settlements and 400 square miles of land in Kursk.
Last night he praised Ukraine’s “good progress” and reiterated his call on Western allies to provide powerful long-range weapons.
He said: “The more the Russian military presence in the border area is destroyed, the closer peace and real security for our country will come.”
Russia has struggled to contain the incursion since Kiev troops breached the border last Tuesday, with Kremlin politician Maria Butina last night accusing the West of “poking the bear” by helping Ukraine.