Russia Overpowers Bold Ukrainian Military Venture in Kursk

Around 11,000 North Koreans Were Deployed to Kursk in December After Training in Russia

- James Marson & Jane Lytvynenko

Ukraine's audacious military gambit inside Russia drew toward a close this week much as it started last summer: quickly. A rapid Russian advance in recent days left remaining Ukrainian forces increasingly isolated under withering assaults, and they had pulled out from all but a sliver of Kursk province by the weekend.

The Ukrainian military's seven-month foray surprised allies with its vigor and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin. After attempting to send his army to capture Kyiv in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Ukraine had hoped to cling onto territory in Kursk as a bargaining chip in peace talks, but Ukrainian officials said it was necessary to pull out to preserve lives.

"The military command is doing what it should, preserving as many lives as possible of our warriors," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters Wednesday.

Critics of the operation said the withdrawal proved it was a wasteful folly that squandered some of Ukraine's best troops and their U.S.-supplied armored vehicles, sorely needed on other fronts in Ukraine.

But some analysts said Ukraine, outnumbered and outgunned by its giant neighbor, was justified in trying something unorthodox.

"What is one bad option among a host of bad options?" said Nick Reynolds, research fellow for land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "Ukraine has been faced with dilemma after dilemma."

The operation, Ukrainian officials said, achieved some of its original aims: proving to Ukrainians and Western backers that the military can still launch offensives, forestalling an anticipated Russian invasion in the same area and capturing soldiers to swap with Ukrainian prisoners languishing in inhumane conditions in Russian prisons.

The operation "accomplished its task," Zelensky said Friday. Ukrainian forces are now defending along the hilly border to prevent a further advance by Russian and North Korean forces.