The Russian commander promised the troops Heaven if they died at Kursk

In a message shared on his Telegram channel on August 18, Alaudinov said it is their duty to protect the country when it is under attack.

He said conscripts who die defending “their homeland, their faith” will “go to heaven,” Russian-language media outlet Meduza reported, citing the Telegram video.

The incursion came as a surprise because NATO officials believed Ukraine would have to wait another year to launch a counteroffensive. However, experts say it has proven highly effective.

The Institute for the Study of War in Washington, DC said in an update on Sunday that there is a “stark contrast” between the amount of territory Russia has seized so far this year and Ukraine in less than a week.

Kiev says its forces have captured about 386 square miles of Russian territory – almost as much as Moscow has captured in Ukraine this year – since the incursion began on August 6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had not informed its allies about the planned incursion because its allies would have called the plan “unrealistic”.

Last week, the country’s intelligence services said its forces in Kursk had captured 102 Russian soldiers.

The “I want to live” project, run by Ukraine’s secret services, posted a video on its Telegram channel Thursday of dozens of men lying face down next to a road.

The video’s caption said the troops “made the right decision and surrendered.”

Russian military officials did not respond to Business Insider’s after-hours request for comment.