Russian soldiers shocked: Ukrainian paratroopers describe border breach during Kursk operation

The Command of ukraine's Airborne Assault Forces posted this on its Facebook page, Espreso reports.

How Ukrainian paratroopers broke through Russian border

After overcoming the minefields, the first assault groups of the Air Assault Troops and other units of Ukrainian Defense Forces moved forward under the cover of tanks.

“It is incredible to cover so many kilometers in the territory of the Russian Federation in such a short time. The Russians themselves were shocked,” the paratroopers said.

Ukraine's 82nd Brigade

The 82nd Separate Airborne Assault Brigade is a formidable multi-thousand-strong unit engaged in the most intense combat zones on the front. Formed earlier this year from the 3rd Battalion Tactical Group of the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade, it is based in Chernivtsi.

The brigade is led by the renowned Colonel Pavlo Rozlach, known as 'Bear.' Rozlach studied at the Chernihiv Military Lyceum, the Odesa Institute of Land Forces, and graduated in 2009 from the Lviv Institute of Land Forces at Lviv Polytechnic National University. He volunteered for the conflict initiated by Russia in April 2014.

In 2015, he became Ukraine's youngest combat commander at the age of 27.

Ukraine’s cross-border incursion in Russia’s Kursk region

On August 6, the authorities of Russia's Kursk region stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly tried to break through the Russian border, but were pushed back. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group retreated to its territory.”

On August 7, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin convened the Russian military leadership to discuss the situation in the Kursk region, which he called a "large-scale provocation." At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to "strongly condemn the Kyiv regime's criminal attacks on Russian territory."

On August 10, President Zelenskyy called the operation in the Kursk region “pushing the war into the aggressor's territory.” At night of the same day, the authorities introduced a counterterrorism operation in the Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod regions of Russia.

On August 14, it became known that the Ukrainian military had formed a “sanitary (buffer) zone” for self-defense in the Kursk region of Russia. It is planned to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, and if necessary, military commandant's offices will be established in the Russian region.

At a meeting with the president on August 15, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had established the first military commandant's office in the Kursk region to provide humanitarian aid to local residents.

At the same time, Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, together with the military, is currently working on a possible route for a humanitarian corridor for civilians from Kursk to Sumy.

On August 15, The Independent reported that about 2,000 Russian servicemen were captured during an operation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.