Vladimir Putin’s army “is only second best, even in Russia,” a senior Ukrainian commander boasted yesterday, as kyiv continued to make significant advances into enemy territory.
Ukrainian Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Vano Nadiradze said more than 2,000 prisoners of war have been taken since the daring raid in Russia’s Kursk region last week.
Yesterday, a £30m Russian Sukhoi Su-34 bomber was shot down and airfields were left “devastated” by Ukraine’s biggest series of drone strikes since the full-scale invasion of the Kremlin in February 2022.
Colonel Nadiradze told the Daily Mail how sophisticated radar jamming systems helped “fool and negate” poorly organised Russian forces in Kursk, allowing Ukraine to seize swathes of land.
“We have more than 2,000 Russian prisoners so far and they are not just recruits, they are competent fighters, including FSB forces,” he said last night.
Putin faces humiliation over Ukrainian advances in Kursk and Belgorod
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard as he watches a line of captured Russian prisoners of war in Kursk.
Ukrainian military personnel operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region near the border with Russia on August 12, 2024, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘This operation took place over two months, with extensive planning and reconnaissance work to make the initial advance as successful as possible. Everything was meticulously planned, down to the last detail, and kept completely classified.
“Our anti-radar systems worked like a charm. The Akhmat (a special forces unit under the command of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov) was tasked with monitoring these territories, but we fooled them and completely shut them down.”
He added that Ukrainian forces have fortified their positions, up to 30 miles behind enemy lines, with deep trenches.
And in the few clashes they have had with the Russian resistance, the losses have risen to 10 to 1 in favour of Ukraine, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that Ukrainian troops had “made good progress” and were “achieving our strategic goal.”
Troops are now within striking distance of several Russian ballistic missile bases, and hundreds more Ukrainian fighters continue to arrive in Kursk and the neighbouring Belgorod region.
Colonel Nadiradze said: “The extent of our success can already be seen in Russia: the hysteria among Russian military experts and bloggers, the fear on Putin’s face on Russian television.”
He said the raid had had several “massive benefits.”
It has eased pressure on Sumy and Kharkiv in northern Ukraine, as Russia had used Kirsk as a launching pad for artillery bombardments in those regions.
It has eased pressure on Donetsk in southern Ukraine, which Colonel Nadiradze said was “becoming critical” because Russia has been forced to withdraw five convoys from there to defend its own border.
He added: “The Russians made a huge mistake, because none of those convoys reached Kursk intact. On the way, our drones and rockets did a lot of damage to them.” This has also given Ukraine a huge bargaining chip in future peace negotiations.
Ukraine says its forces now control up to 74 towns in the Kursk region as of Wednesday
A Ukrainian armored military vehicle drives past a burned-out car near the border on Wednesday.
Colonel Nadiradze, a Georgian conscript who has been awarded Ukraine’s highest honour, the Hero of Ukraine medal, said: “We have shown our friends in the West how vulnerable Russia is and how it will back down when we stand up to it.
“We have shown the world that the Russian army, once considered the second best in the world, is actually only the second best even in Russia.” Yesterday, satellite images confirmed that trenches have been built in Kursk with heavy machinery.
President Zelensky has said that Ukraine now controls 74 settlements and 400 square miles of land in Kursk.
Last night, he praised Ukraine’s “good progress” and renewed his call for Western allies to provide it with powerful long-range weapons.
He said: “The more the Russian military presence in the border area is destroyed, the closer peace and real security will be for our country.”
Russia has struggled to contain the incursion since Kiev forces stormed the border last Tuesday. Kremlin politician Maria Butina last night accused the West of “provoking the bear” by helping Ukraine.