Russian President Vladimir Putin is panicking after the recent surrender of at least 100 Russian soldiers, which marks the biggest defeat of Russia’s powerful military since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in early 2022.
Putin was already melting down over the recent setbacks of the Russian army, and this latest surrender is only increasing his worries.
While capturing soldiers in a war of such a huge scale is a common phenomenon, Ukrainian authorities revealed that they seized a large group of 102 soldiers in one go on Wednesday, August 14, during their invasion of the Russian city of Kursk.
On August 15, Ukrainian media released photos of the surrendered soldiers who were reportedly abandoned by their commanders who fled after seeing the advancing Ukrainian military in the region. Alongside the large group of soldiers, the Ukrainian military also captured massive ammunition stock and weaponry that was supposed to be used against them.
This surrender came at a time when Putin recently engaged in a heated conversation with his top officials and accused the Western nations of supplying weapons to Ukraine that they eventually used against Russia to stage a comeback in the war. Putin noted that Ukraine only managed to gain Russian territory using Western weapons as he urged his soldiers to push back Ukrainian forces and regain the lost territories.
According to the Army Chief of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine has managed to capture more than 82 towns and villages in Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also revealed that his forces have now installed a military command post in Russia’s Kursk near a gas measuring station, which plays an important role in measuring Russian gas exports.
Furthermore, the unexpected advancement of the Ukrainian forces has also pushed Russian civilians living in the Kursk region to flee their homes in big numbers as the country faces the biggest ever attack on its soil since World War II.
Geopolitical analysts believe that Ukraine wants to capture some important facilities within mainland Russia, which could help them in bargaining with a hostile Russian government that has also captured parts of their country.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, noted that Russia had initiated the prisoner-swap talks after finding itself in a challenging situation. Previously, Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, dismissed any possibility of exchanging prisoners with Ukraine, as she suggested that Ukraine’s unrealistic demands could not be met.
