Kursk locals know Ukrainian and use it when necessary — Ukrainian soldier from Kursk direction

He shared the infoormation on Espreso TV. 

He specifically confirmed that the local population in the Kursk region is knows and uses the Ukrainian language. However, Ukrainian defenders recognize that, despite this, the locals identify as Russians.

“They speak Ukrainian, mostly the older part of the population. They know Ukrainian very well and speak it when they need it, when they need to ask for help, or just pretend to be very good citizens and people. These are Russians, this is their typical characteristic,” he said. 

The serviceman noted that the Russian army is already recovering from the unexpected incursion. 

“Now, over time, they have recovered, oriented themselves to the terrain, events, and tactics. They are deploying more of their reserves and other military units from other areas, which are also experienced, have experience in combat operations in Ukraine and know what the Ukrainian Armed Forces are, unlike those who were here at first - conscripts, Akhmat, border guards. Those who hardly ever took part in combat. Of course, at the beginning of this operation it was easier, because the initiative was with the Ukraine's Armed Forces, because it was sudden, it was planned, and the enemy was panicking, there was actually panic in their ranks,” he said. 

Yakovenko also says that Russian troops are more motivated in the fight for Ukrainian territory than in the defense of the Russian borders. 

“This stage of the war - the fighting in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation - should be considered an integral part of the war in Ukraine, a defensive war. This completes the very logic of warfare - transferring it to the enemy's territory, among other things - and this, on the contrary, only invigorates and raises morale, not only for those who are in this area, but also for others in Ukraine. Logistics is one of the childhood diseases of the Russian army, they face certain obstacles, and we have struck the enemy's logistics routes and positions. But in general, they have recovered and are conducting a typical type of combat. This is not Donbas, of course, and, strangely enough, they are not as motivated here as they are in our territories,” the Ukrainian soldier added.

• On August 29, reports indicated that the pace of Ukrainian attacks in Russia's Kursk region had slowed. The Ukrainian defense forces are focusing on digging in and holding the areas they recently captured.