On the morning of March 12, videos emerged on pro-war Telegram channels in Russia showing soldiers installing the Russian flag in the center of Sudja. Analysis of the footage confirms that Ukrainian soldiers have completely left the city area.
Ruslan Leviyev, founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team investigation project, stated that it can be said that "the entire city of Sudja has effectively come under the control of Russian troops," emphasizing that Ukrainian armed forces are leaving their positions in an organized manner and that Russians are reclaiming territories almost without fighting.
“We have witnessed that all areas that have gradually come under the control of Russian troops have been captured almost without a fight. The same happened with Sudja. Yesterday [March 11], videos appeared showing Russian troops stationed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Today we see Russian troops on this edge of the city. There are no more battle scenes... In fact, it can be said right now that the entire city of Sudja has come under the control of Russian troops,” Leviyev said.
He predicted that in the coming hours, Ukrainian troops would completely leave the Kursk region: “Perhaps this story will end today. Perhaps they will try to hold on to the border villages for another day or two. But overall, the history of the Kursk salient is coming to an end, and Ukrainian troops are leaving.”
The Rybar Telegram channel, which is close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, also reported that Ukrainian armed forces have been systematically withdrawing their most experienced units from the Kursk region to the Donetsk region over the past few days.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported in its morning daily report that five populated areas had been liberated – these are Kazachya Loknya, 1-Knyazhy, 2-Knyazhy, Zamoste, and Mirny. The first three are located north of Sudja, while the last two are directly adjacent to the city from the south. At the same time, the report did not mention anything about Sudja itself.
Kiev has not officially commented on the Russian army's offensive in the Kursk region. "RBK-Ukraine" noted that the daily combat maps officially published by the Ukrainian armed forces headquarters on March 10 and 11 showed a significant reduction in the area controlled by Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a press briefing, explained the withdrawal of Ukrainian armed forces from Russian territory, stating that troops are carrying out tasks in the Kursk region, while the command is trying to preserve the lives of the fighters.
“Our troops in the Kursk region are carrying out their tasks. The Russians are trying to exert as much serious pressure as possible on our troops. The [Ukrainian] military command is doing what it needs to do: making maximum efforts to preserve the lives of our soldiers,” said the Ukrainian leader.
Russian troops took advantage of the temporary halt in the exchange of intelligence data between the US and Ukraine from March 5 to March 11, launching a large-scale offensive in the Kursk region and managing to liberate several populated areas.
The center of the Sudja district, which had a population of five thousand before the war, had been occupied by Ukrainians since mid-August 2024 – it was the only populated area in the Kursk region that had the status of a city captured by Ukrainian forces.
