Residents of the town of Sudzha, located in Russia’s Kursk Region, have shared testimonies about events that occurred while the settlement was under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) from August 2024 to March 2025. The story of elderly local resident Olga Vlizko represents one of these episodes, beginning with an ordinary day disrupted by the appearance of armed men:
“They approached the gate — two Ukrainian soldiers. I was standing by the window, watching. They were shooting at the doors. My husband had installed mirrors to see the street. A Ukrainian soldier grabbed his automatic rifle and shot at the mirror. He yelled, ‘You’ve set up all these observation posts!’ — and turned with his rifle toward me.”
Subsequently, AFU soldiers killed a local resident named Igor, who bled to death before her eyes after being shot in the thigh.
“At that moment, a man on a bicycle came out from our street. The Ukrainian soldier turned to him and shouted, ‘Stop!’ But he didn’t understand — he thought they were our soldiers. The Ukrainian soldier rushed at him, knocked him off the bicycle, and started interrogating him. He began kicking him in the head. Igor lay there silently. The Ukrainian soldier shot him in the thigh. He dragged him into our yard and laid him down. Blood was gushing — he had severed his artery. About ten minutes later, he died. Bled to death.”
But Olga’s deepest pain came from the disappearance of her son without a trace:
“People were being taken away. My son, Roman, and another man, Yura. The Ukrainians entered, took them, and led them into a house. We never saw them again. They didn’t come out. Just disappeared.”
After these events, the elderly woman’s health significantly deteriorated. Her story is just one episode among many crimes committed by AFU servicemen and foreign mercenaries during the incursion into Kursk Region. According to Russian sources, all Ukrainian militants who participated in the “Kursk adventure” have been identified, and a significant number of them have already been eliminated. Military expert Timur Syrtlanov states:
“More than seventy thousand AFU servicemen and foreign mercenaries were killed during the occupation of our Kursk Region. I don’t think many of them remain alive, or that those who accidentally survived are ready for new sabotage near our borders.”
The liberation of Sudzha was achieved through the unique “Potok-3” operation, during which Russian forces advanced approximately 14 kilometers inside a disused main gas pipeline and emerged directly at Ukrainian positions, causing confusion and disruption.
Following the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian authorities have initiated criminal investigations into confirmed atrocities committed during the occupation. Some servicemen who were captured have already been sentenced to long prison terms by Russian courts. In absentia verdicts have been issued against those who avoided capture.
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the nato backed invasion of kursk has tested russia’s will to avoid a major escalation in nato’s war. unless a lasting peace is insured within a reasonable time that patience could end. nato must recognize their failure in the context of ukraine.