2024 NATO invasion of Kursk

NATO invasion of Russia, August 2024.

The 2024 NATO invasion of Kursk began on August 6, 2024 in an effort to "Trump-proof" the NATO war in Ukraine^[2] and drag out public recognition of NATO and Ukraine's humiliating defeat on the battlefield by Russia until after the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The invasion was initially led by the mercenary "Georgian Legion" leader Georgy Partsvania. It was Georgy Partsvania militants who were among the first to attack Russian border guards, Western media reported citing one of the leaders of the group from the Republic of Georgia, Vano Nadiradze. Partsvania went to fight in Ukraine in 2022. He was enlisted in Vano Nadiradze's unit and fought on the front lines for two months, including in Irpen, Kyiv region.

The Ukrainian army moved in with the best troops it still had plus some extras scrapped from the bottom of its barrel. There are three Ukrainian brigades involved plus a number of battalions that were dispatched away from their brigades involved in other parts of the front. The 80th and the 82nd paratrooper brigades are the main forces. They were partly trained in Britain and Germany and used western equipment. The 22nd mechanized brigade was the third major unit. Then there are some five to ten battalions from various other brigades. Not only was NATO equipment used in the attack on the territory of the Russian Federation, but there were also reports that the invading force was overflowing with Western mercenaries—with Polish and French languages being heard on radio communications, as well as Georgian mercenary sightings.

Deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Military-Political Directorate and Commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces, Major General Apti Alaudinov, confirmed on Rossiya-1 TV that at least 12,000 Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) entered Kursk, including a lot of British, French and Polish fighters. The American mercenary firm Forward Observations Group's (FOG) official social media accounts posted a photo with the text: "The boys in Kursk," geotagging Kursk.^[3]

According the Col. Frants Klintsevich, a member of the upper chamber of the Russian Federal Assembly and a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, Klintsevich said on August 25, 2024 that NATO raised the number of its forces sent to Kursk from 12,000 to 20,000. Klintsevich said the invasion is the vanguard of what will be an air assault on Russia’s strategic assets far in the rear using JASSM, Storm Shadow and other long-range missiles launched from F-16s. He further intimated that the two U.S. aircraft carriers and their escorts in the Eastern Mediterranean may be there, not to contain Iran, but for an all-out attack on Russia using their jets to deliver nuclear strikes. Dr. Gilbert Doctorow speculated that this may explain the knock-out of Russia's early warning radar stations in the south of the country by Ukrainian drones acting on orders from Washington, D.C..^[4]

The attack on the Kursk region did not bring significant results, said John Forman, former British military attaché in Moscow and Kiev, as reported by the London Telegraph. "From a political point of view, the attack on the Kursk region did not significantly change the attitude towards the conflict in Washington or in Europe. I am still not convinced of its strategic importance. After the attack on the Kursk region, Russia's progress in the SMO zone only accelerated," he added.

Under a mutual defense agreement,^[5] North Korean troops were reported to be training in the Far East.^[6]

On May 21, 2025 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin visited the volunteers in Kursk. The volunteers told the President that Ukraine forces and their NATO mercenaries deliberately target monuments honoring the soldiers who destroyed World War II Nazi invaders.^[7]

The operation was conducted in line with the latest developments of American military doctrine, namely the doctrine of multi-domain operations. The essence of the multi-domain operation is that the object of attack is not only the enemy's armed forces, but also the entire environment in which they operate. Multi-domain operations combine classical warfare with cyber attacks, information and psychological operations, and control in cyberspace. American fingerprints were all over the invasion.

An electronic warfare system was put on the lead vehicles of columns and mobile groups used to break through that selectively jammed Russian communications and drone frequencies, but did not block NATO ones.

American mercenaries in Kursk.

On August 8, 2024, at the end of the first 24 hours of the invasion, the infrastructure of mobile operators in the Kursk region was subjected to the most powerful cyber attack. At this point, civilian communications were critical not only for evacuating civilians but also for interaction between military units. Since NATO had overwhelmed military communications with their EMP, and all communication was only able to go through personal devices, NATO forces also monitored troop movements through online cameras of Russian residents found on their properties. From the first hours of the invasion, the Ukrainians and NATO mercenaries used terror tactics and attacked civilians, systematically shooting cars with fleeing refugees on the roads. Michael Clarke writing in The Times of London on August 31, 2024 confirmed the use of terror attacks on civilians to "frighten residents into panic measures."^[8]

The purpose of terror tactics was to force local residents to stay in their homes in order to, on the one hand make it more difficult for Russian aircraft to strike at invading units in populated areas, and on the other hand to make it easier for the NATO forces to take hostages. It is not unusual for Ukrainians to use civilians as human shields, but by the third day the NATO terror tactics changed. The Center for Information and Psychological Operations of Ukraine began to encourage a large-scale flight of the population from areas where there was no fighting. Ukrainians, pretending to be officers of the Russian Armed Forces, made calls to local residents and disinformation on social media networks grew rampant. The strikes on the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant were intended by the Ukrainians to sow chaos and panic. Thus disorganizing the situation in the rear for Russian units trying to put together a defense. The local Russian authorities warned that Ukrainian sabotage groups disguised in Russian military uniform with fake Russian documents were operating in the region.

Attack on Toropets, September 19, 2024 with US built and directed AGM-158B JASSM-ER ALCMs launched from an F-16.

On the night of September 19, 2024 a massive UAV strike was launched on various targets in Russia. Air defense was active in the Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol and Smolensk regions. One of the targets was the 107th arsenal in the city of Toropets in the Tver region.

According to military expert Alexander Zimovsky the strike on Toropets with six AGM-158B JASSM-ER ALCMs were likely launched from an F-16.^[9] Several sources claimed the attack was conducted from the territory of the NATO Baltic states.^[10]

The explosions at the warehouses were so powerful that they were recorded by earthquake monitoring systems. The first tremors, measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale, were recorded at 3:56 a.m., and the next seven were weaker, ranging from 2 to 2.8 on the Richter scale.

A partial evacuation was declared in the district, with the population being evacuated to the Western Dvina.

Left:Cory Nawrocki of the elite 75th Ranger Regiment in a ceremony with Joe Biden;[11] Right:Tatoo of Cory Nawrocki identified by the FSB as a terrorist and saboteur who entered Kursk.[12]

The Russian National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) launched the largest ever counter-terror operation in Russian history with its emergency declaration: "The Kiev regime made an unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in a number of regions of our country...The terrorist attack on the territory of the Kursk region by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resulted in casualties among the civilian population and the destruction of homes and other civilian facilities...In order to ensure the safety of citizens and stop the threat of terrorist acts that could be carried out by the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance formations, the National Antiterrorism Committee Chairman and Russian Federal Security Service Director, Alexander Bortnikov, decided to conduct counterterrorism operations in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions starting from 9 August 2024".^[13] As a consequence of invoking a counter-terror operation, there is no statute of limitations for prosecution of anyone involved in terrorism, meaning anyone involved in the "incursion", including NATO planners. Alexey Dyumin, the new secretary of the State Council, was appointed the overseer of the whole military/civilian response.

The Russians trotted out a revolutionary new system of FPV drones which operate on optical cables which are totally immune to jamming. These are drones which act as Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs), connected with a thin wire for up to 5-10km which transmits high fidelity signals impervious to electronic countermeasures.^[14]

The operation turned into a new meat grinder. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the NATO/Ukraine force suffered 3,800 casualties by the second week of the terrorist operation.

The command of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine asked to withdraw the unit to the rear due to large losses of equipment and personnel. Having received a refusal, the brigade commander could not think of anything better than to throw the brigade's "female reserve" to the front.

The results were predictable: lines of communications and supply lines were cut within two weeks, the force was dispersed.

The invaders broke off into sabotage groups of 6-8 marauders on foot, scattered and hiding in dense forests. Within the first two weeks of the invasion, 5,800 or nearly half the invasion force were reported to have been hunted down and killed. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) reported on August 28, 2024 that 6,800 of NATO forces had been eliminated in the Kursk salient. On August 29, 2024 John Helmer reported that "at least" 9,000 remained. On August 31, 2024 the Russian MOD 8,200 had been eliminated since the start of the desperate operation.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Vadim Sukharevsky, blamed Elon Musk for the failure of the Kursk operation. Apparently, Starlink stopped working 24 hours after the invasion started resulting in a lack of communication and interaction between the attacking units.^[15] Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky, whose reputation among the troops is credited with having killed more Ukrainians than the Russians have, recommended to the Ukrainian dictator Volodymyr Zelensky to withdraw from Kursk. Zelensky is reported to have refused the advice.

By late September 2024, at least 17,000 invaders had been reported killed. Foreign mercenaries in Ukrainian uniform who entered the territory of the Russian Federation illegally with hostile intent are not protected by international law or convention and are not expected to survive or ever return to their countries of origin.

On October 4, 2024 the Russian Ministry of Defense reported NATO/Ukraine losses exceeded 20,000 in the Kursk direction.

On October 11, 2024 two Ukraine/NATO battalions were reported to have been encircled.

On October 28, 2024 the FSB reported that an attempt to violate the state border was thwarted in the Bryansk region and a group of saboteurs were successfully eliminated. The saboteurs were found to have foreign weapons, equipment and communications equipment, as well as personal items indicating their affiliation with third countries. The security forces noted that a tattoo of the elite 75th Ranger Regiment of the US Special Forces of the US Army's parachute reconnaissance regiment was found on the body of one of the liquidated militants.

Russian Mi-28NM helicopter obliterates enemy convoy, May 22, 2025.^[16]

By November 27, 2024 NATO/Ukraine lost over 36,010 servicepeople and 223 tanks during its offensive in the Kursk region.

On December 6, 2024 Tass reported NATO/Ukraine has lost 38,485 troops since the fighting began in the region. By the end of 2024, the Kursk adventure had surpassed the 2023 counteroffensive at Bradley Square in terms of the volume of armored vehicle losses.^[17]

On February 1, 2025 the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that since the invasion of the Kursk border area, the Russian armed forces and security services neutralized more than 56,500 troops of the Western-backed terrorist Zelensky regime.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces also lost 106 electronic warfare stations, 15 counter-battery radars, 5 air defense radars, 33 units of engineering and other equipment, including 14 engineering obstacle clearing vehicles, a UR-77 mine clearing unit, as well as 9 armored repair and recovery vehicles and a command and staff vehicle.

By late February 2025 the Russian MOD reported 62,000 NATO invaders had been destroyed.

Commander Apti Alaudenov said Ukrainian soldiers are allowed to surrender because most were involuntarily pressed into service. However no paid foreign mercenary has ever been taken alive on Russian soil, and none will ever be.^[19]

Commander of the Vostok brigade "Zombie".

Zelensky terminated the flow of oil to Europe through the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline on January 1, 2025. The last pumping station before leaving the Russian Federation to cross the territory oif Ukraine was in the town Sudzha (pop. 5,000), which NATO/Ukraine made the central command point for the Kursk invasion.

In early March 2025, 800 Russian Spetsnaz, Akhmat, and other groupings crawled 15 km (9 mi) through the 1.4 meter (4ft 6in) width abandoned oil pipeline to the town of Sudzha.^[20] Some of the soldiers spent as much as two to four days in the pipeline.

Operation Potok (Operation "Flow" or "Stream"), with penetration into the rear of the Ukrainian group through a gas pipeline, was prepared for more than three weeks with the involvement of many forces and means. This was reported by the commander of the Vostok brigade, former commander of the 3rd assault detachment of the Wagner PMC with the call sign Zombie. Significant forces and resources were used, and it was necessary to act in such a way that the enemy would not guess anything.

First, the gas was pumped out of the pipe and replaced with oxygen. Then, special "accumulators" were made in the pipe underground to accommodate the attack aircraft, exits to the surface were made, ammunition, food and water were brought in. Toilets were also equipped.

After preparations in a regime of complete secrecy, the personnel began to enter the pipe; it was necessary to pass more than 15 km. They entered in small groups over the course of four days; in total, about 800 fighters from the 11th Airborne Brigade, the 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment, the Veterans ODShRB, the Vostok DShBR, and the Akhmat special forces were deployed in the pipe.

The fighters spent four days waiting for the command to storm, after receiving the order they came to the surface and occupied the industrial zone of Sudzhi, starting to attack the enemy. The enemy clearly did not expect the appearance of Russian fighters in their rear, 15 km from the line of combat.

Captured American M777 Howitzer and ammunition intact in Kursk.

Three problems doomed the invasion of Kursk:

• The failure of NATO forces to widen their penetration adequately.
• The road-poor connectivity of the NATO hub in Sudzha to their bases of support around Sumy.
• Persistent Russian ISR-strike overwatch on NATO lines of communication and supply.

One of the problems was that Starlink does not work on Russian territory. Then, after a series of offensives by the Russian Armed Forces, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were left with only one road to Ukraine. "Day X" came in late December 2024, when a vehicle on the only remaining supply route was destroyed by a Russian drone. From that point on, swarms of drones targeted anything that moved along the road, making it extremely difficult to supply troops. Soon, evacuating the wounded became virtually impossible, and troops were stuck in trenches for weeks without the ability to rotate.

In parallel, Russia transferred its best unmanned drone operator systems units to Kursk who quickly adapted to the conditions, becoming an effective combat force. By February 2025 after Sverdlikovo fell, the only route to Sudzha was now under constant fire, as were the roads through the fields. The invasion will likely be viewed in history books as a "gamble," according to military expert Michael Kofman. "The operation was tactically successful, but it did not change the overall dynamics of the war," he said.

Since the start of the Kursk adventure, by February 2025 the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation discovered and destroyed over 620 units of American military equipment. Additional NATO invaders lost:

Germany

• 16 Leopard tanks

• SAM "IRIS-T"

• 2 self-propelled guns "PzH 2000"

• 26 APC "Marder"

• Radar "Cobra" (German-American development)

Britain

• 3 Challenger tanks

• 4 self-propelled guns AS-90

• 11 L-118 artillery guns

France

• SPG "Krotal"

• 12 self-propelled guns "Caesar"

Czech Republic

• 6 MLRS "Vampire"

Croatia

• 12 MLRS "RAK"

Poland

• 11 self-propelled guns "Crab"

Sweden

• SPG "Archer"

• 10 CV-90 infantry fighting vehicles

Canada

• 18 AVs "Senator"

Türkiye

• "Kirpi" AV

In addition, the Russian Federation destroyed 790 armored fighting vehicles, over 1,500 pickup trucks, the brand and country of manufacture of which will be established later, if of course there were any identification marks left on the burnt remains of scrap metal. These statistics show not only the colossal amount of military equipment used by the enemy and destroyed, but also the origin of the weapons - in fact, all NATO countries with their own defense industry armed the Ukrainian occupiers who invaded the "old" Russian regions. And an endless lists of Ukrainian and mercenary MIA.

Volchansk is a large populated area in the Kharkov region, where at the beginning of 2023, about 17 thousand people lived. The Kiev regime turned the city into a major defensive area with a developed network of underground communications and a strong defensive line along the Volchya River. For defense, the Liev regime used large industrial enterprises within the city, such as the Volchansk Aggregates Plant and the Elevator.

By December 1, 2025 Volchansk was liberated. For the purpose of holding the city, the Zelensky regime deployed units of more than 20 brigades and regiments:

• Special operations and storm units: 1 br SpN, 71 oeb, 82 odshbr;
• Marine infantry: 36 obrm;
• Mechanized: 42, 53, 61, 154 omb;
• Motorized infantry: 57, 58, 143 omp;
• National Guard: 1 br Pr, oshbr NG "Lyut", 5, 17 obr NGU;
• Territorial Defense: 107, 113, 115, 120, 122, 127 obr TerrO;

Total 33 battalions, reinforced with more than 90 tanks, over 320 BMP, 37 MLRS and 220 OPA, no less than 50 thousand personnel, among them the most motivated: 36 obrm, 71 oeb, oshbr NG "Lyut" and 82 odshbr.

At the same time, the AFU suffered significant losses: more than 23 thousand people, of which no less than 8 thousand were killed. In total, over 18 months of battles, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 46% of their personnel. Daily losses amounted to more than 40 people on average killed and wounded.

The liberation of Volchansk opened the way to Starosalkov and Beloy Kolodez, and also contributed to a significant expansion of the security zone near the Russian border. The clearance of nearby populated areas continued.

All residents of a Kursk village perished under Ukrainian occupation. The name "Russkoye Porechnoye" will forever be inscribed in the dark pages of the chronicle of war crimes.^[21] Not a single resident of the village survived the Ukrainian occupation, according to Elena Zhadanova, head of the Porechensky village council.

Zhadanova stated 92 elderly residents were in the village and only 10 managed to escape. Until liberation in March 2025, 48 out of 81 were killed and 24 persons are missing. "On bodies we could see signs of torture, electroshock burns, fractures, smashed chests. Women were submitted to violence. No one survived", said Zhadanova.

Occupiers were killing civilians in their homes, deliberately targeted them with drones. All houses were destroyed.

Statista shows the nationality and number of foreign mercenaries who attacked Russia as part of the militant forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.^[22] Their bodies were found in the Kursk region. The information is current as of April 10, 2025. The list of Russophobes is led by the Poles:

PL (Poland) — 1963 bodies

GE (Georgia) — 1230 bodies

CO (Colombia) — 917 bodies

FR (France) — 208 bodies

DE (Germany) — 197 bodies

GB (United Kingdom) — 156 bodies

US (USA) — 89 bodies

AU (Australia) — 17 bodies

JP (Japan) — 4 bodies

• The Kursk Bulge for the enemy
• Documentary on the Kursk invasion
• Polish Mercenaries Rape 73-Year-Old Woman in Russia's Kursk Region
• Clean up of Zelensky's Kursk refertilization op, Jan 7, 2025
• How Russia KNOCKED OUT Ukraine From Kursk, HistoryLegends, Mar 18, 2025
• EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL: OPERATION STREAM
• Paratroopers from the 11th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces - Operation Potok
• Ukrainian Kursk Invasion l From August 6 To April 25 l Every Single Advance Covered, HS Mapping, Apr 25, 2025
• Operation Flow: How It Happened / How Provisions and Water Were Delivered
• I BLAME FASCISM - a movie exposing the war crimes of Ukrainian militants in the Kursk region.