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Ukraine has reportedly seized more than 80 settlements over 1,150 square km (444 square miles) in Kursk since Aug. 6 in the biggest invasion of Russia since World War-II read more
 "Russia mobilises reluctant conscripts to counter Ukrainian onslaught")
A damaged monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands in a central square in Sudzha, Kursk region, Russia, Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.- AP
Nearly two weeks since Ukrainian forces breached Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s response has been characterised by disarray rather than decisive action as instead of assembling a formidable counterforce, Russia has resorted to hastily deploying young conscripts from across the country pulled from less active fronts.
“People are horrified. We are overwhelmed with requests and can barely keep up,” Ivan Chuvilayev, a representative of Go by the Forest, a Russian NGO helping citizens to avoid conscription told the Financial Times.
In recent days, the organisation has been inundated with pleas for help from conscripts and their families as reports of young soldiers sent to Kursk emerged as Ukraine continued to advance. “It started in some regions, but now it is clear that conscripts are being mobilised from all over Russia,” Chuvilayev told FT.
“The initial force in the Kursk area was FSB Border Troops, Akhmat fighters from Chechnya, and local ground forces units taken from the Moscow or Leningrad military districts. Now, they have brought in additional forces subordinate from the Leningrad and Moscow military districts — some of them are conscripts,” FT quoted Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as saying.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his troops had strengthened positions in Russia’s Kursk region nearly two weeks into their incursion. He called for bold decisions by Kyiv’s allies to allow long-range strikes.
Ukraine says it has seized more than 80 settlements over 1,150 square km (444 square miles) in Kursk since Aug. 6 in the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two.
Zelenskiy said his army chief Oleksander Syrskyi had reported that Ukrainian troops continued their advance and also took more Russian servicemen as prisoners.
He said that the operation in the Kursk region was going according to plan and Ukrainian troops continued to advance and strengthen their positions.
Zelenskiy renewed his calls for Ukraine’s Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia.
Western governments providing military aid to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 have so far refused to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons because of the perceived risk of escalation in the conflict.
Russia has called the incursion a major provocation and vowed to retaliate with a “worthy response,” more than 2-1/2 years since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
With inputs from agencies.
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