Ukrainian soldier said Russians were still “drinking coffee” during the Kursk attack

The FT wrote that the soldier, identified as Volodymyr, was part of a unit operating a US-supplied Stryker armored fighting vehicle.

Volodymyr told the media that his unit entered Kursk late on the morning of August 6 and soon found a group of Russian troops “sitting in the forest, drinking coffee at a table.”

“Then our Stryker drives straight to their table,” he said, according to the FT.

“We killed many of them on the first day. Because they were unarmed and did not expect us,” he added.

Volodymyr said “dozens” of other Russian troops surrendered afterward.

The FT’s Ukraine correspondent, Christopher Miller, wrote that he interviewed Volodymyr’s crew on Sunday when they returned to Ukraine.

Their Stryker was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade on Friday, which left the driver with a concussion, Miller reported.

Ukraine’s attack on Kursk has focused global attention on the war to Russia’s south, although the fighting remains fierce and dire for Kiev’s troops on the older front line in the east.

Ukrainian leaders claimed on Monday that they had seized 1,000 square kilometers, or about 380 square miles, of Russian land, as well as 74 villages and towns.

The fog of war has made it difficult to assess the true progress of the day-to-day fighting – unusual for a conflict that has been characterized by an excess of war images posted online. Ukraine said nothing official about its attack for days, even after its forces were seen fighting miles past Russian defensive lines.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has called the Ukrainian attack a “terrorist” operation since the early days of the incursion and has repeatedly said it halted Kiev’s advance.

But geolocation images and reports from the ground suggest that Ukraine is still moving deeper into Kursk even after these claims. The speed with which Ukraine has managed to force its way into Russia has raised new questions about military training and intelligence in the region.

“Ukrainian operations across the border in the Kursk and possibly Belgorod regions have been of longer duration and range than the Russians or Ukrainians initially expected,” said US Navy Ret. Vice Adm. Robert Murrett told Business Insider in an email.

The Kremlin is still strengthening its defenses of Kursk, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin vowing that Ukraine will receive a “worthy response”.

“The next two to three days will be critical for both sides as this ‘Battle of Kursk’ takes on added significance,” added Murrett, who is now deputy director of Syracuse University’s Institute for Security Policy and Law.

Remarkably, Russian state media made no mention of an “invasion”, instead referring to a “situation” in the country’s south, according to BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg.

The press services of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s after-hours requests for comment.