Ukrainian forces leave path of destruction in Kursk incursion

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00A statue of Lenin stands in the town square of Suzha, half of his face blown off,

00:04the government building behind him ripped apart.

00:07Evidence of Ukraine's incursion into Russia.

00:11President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed control of Suzha on Thursday after taking the Kremlin

00:15and even his allies by surprise.

00:18As part of a trip organised by Kyiv, journalists were allowed access,

00:22and the scenes they were privy to were ones much more familiar to Ukrainians than to Russians.

00:28Destroyed Russian tanks, punctured road signs and Russian flags line the roads.

00:34But it's not entirely deserted.

00:36Dozens of locals have found refuge in this bomb shelter.

00:39A sign in front of it reads, here are peaceful people in the basement, no soldiers.

00:46Elsewhere in the Kursk region, over 100,000 Russians have chosen to flee.

00:50Many are now staying in evacuee centres like this one, run by volunteers.

00:57Whatever my son took us, that's where we ran.

01:00We would even lay on our stomachs as things went past.

01:04It was extremely scary.

01:06But we survived the night.

01:10In the centre, Russian aid workers distribute basic necessities

01:13and legal advice on navigating state support.

01:17Ukraine has stated it does not want to annex Russian territory.

01:20But it's unclear how far its military will advance,

01:23or how long it'll try to hold onto the land.

01:26We've been more careful since the accident.

01:29You react differently to sirens.

01:31You get right off the streets.

01:33We're taking it more seriously.

01:35It felt like the war was far away, but it's really not.

01:39It's scary how people were injured.

01:41It pains me.

01:44For Ukraine, the incursion comes as a morale boost two and a half years

01:47after Russian forces launched their full-scale offensive.

01:50But for the Kremlin, it's a huge embarrassment,

01:53as it tries to manage the first assault by a foreign army on its territory

01:56since World War Two.

Category

Transcript

Recommended