Ukrainian soldiers spoke about the difficult retreat from Kursk – WSJ.

Sergeant Mesnyk, who leads a mortar unit, reported how their unit left the American M120 mortar system during the retreat from Kursk. Such a heavy system was impossible to transport, so the soldiers replaced it with another and destroyed it to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Russian enemy.

Staff Sergeant Dashak said that the situation was very difficult during the breakthrough of Russian forces on March 8. According to him, some commanders ordered the soldiers to retreat earlier to avoid capture or death. The soldiers used forest belts for cover and chose alternative routes to avoid attracting the enemy's attention.

Ukrainian soldiers faced Russian drones when they had to leave cover and cross open terrain. The military also had problems due to darkness, making it impossible to notice drones or mines, but they still managed to detect them.

Medics reported that there were bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen and damaged equipment on the main road to the border. Many soldiers were hospitalized with leg injuries from mines near the border. Russian drones were constantly in the air with thermal imagers, complicating the situation for the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian forces prevented the advancement of Russian troops into other regions and inflicted significant losses on them, but it cost many lives and the loss of important equipment.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov stated that Ukrainian forces continue to defend in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and avoided encirclement. The evacuation of Ukrainian military personnel was reported to The New York Times by the air forces.

The primary reason for the retreat of Ukrainian troops was the destruction of the bridges by the Russians, which blocked the exit route. The enemies used drones to attack the bridges and destroyed key transport routes.