Jonathan Beale
Defense correspondent
Report from Sammy of Ukrainatem Kariakin
Artem and his troops regularly travel to Russia – until last week
Until about a week ago, Artem Kariakin and his troops were regularly traveling across the Ukrainian border to the Russian town of Sudzha.
When the Ukrainian troops retreat from Russia’s Kursk region, he shows us a video he had taken on the phone from his last trip. It shows they are passing dozens of burnt-out troops and civilian vehicles.
Their final line of defense, the shotgun-armed soldiers scan the horizon of Russian drones. From nowhere, he flies towards the back of the truck. The sparks fly, but they continue.
Artem says they were lucky – the explosive charging wasn’t big enough to stop them.
Another truck nearby was not fortunate. It had already been on fire.
Artem admits that Ukrainian hideaways from Sudzha, the largest town held in Kursk, are “not well organized.”
“It was pretty confusing,” he tells me. “Many units remain in disarray. I think the problem is that the orders to withdraw were too late.”
That didn’t help as the unit was operating without proper communication. The Starlink satellite system they normally rely on did not function within Russia.
The 27-year-old soldier still considers Kursk’s attacks to be widely successful. Artem says Russia forced its troops out from the east. Most of the Ukrainian army could still escape in time, even if many were on foot.
However, he believes that Ukraine’s surprising invasion of Russian territory, released last August, is too deep and too narrow.
While Artem and his men were fleeing for their lives, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were talking on the phone about trying to end the war. Artem says he thinks he is “absurd.”
“For me, these calls between Trump and Putin are just surreal,” he says. “Trump wants to end the war. He has promised to do that. Putin wants to deceive Trump and continue the war. I can’t take their conversation seriously.”
Currently, Artem, located in the Luhansk region under Russian occupation, feels disappointed with the US and Trump. “What can I feel just because they want to hand over my house?”
Artem Kariakin
The Ukrainian invasion in August 2024 surprised Russia
Artem says he didn’t believe Putin was willing to trade parts of Russia for the occupied territory of Ukraine. However, he still believes that Kursk’s attack is important to protect its own borders. The Ukrainian troops may have been forced to retreat, but they still occupy the highlands across the border with Smie.
Ukraine continues to attack not only Kursk but also Belgorod across borders.
Serhiy’s attack battalion will assist in planning these attacks. This finds a way to pass through Russian minefields and anti-tank obstacles known as “Dragon’s Teeth.”
We joined him on night missions to find and recover armored vehicles that needed repairs. It is the safest time to approach the Russian border.
Serch himself is not familiar with Russia. He was born there. He currently has Belorsi citizenship, but he decides to fight for Ukraine. He justifies the invasion of previous homes in Ukraine. Russia is also trying to create a buffer zone within Ukraine’s territory, he says.
Traveling on his Ukrainian-made armored vehicle, Serhiy still cites the possible threat. Currently we are less than 10 km from the Russian border: glide bombs, rockets, artillery and drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras.
BBC/Matthew Goddard
Serhi fights for Ukraine against the country he was born in.
His own vehicles are equipped with electronic countermeasures to jam enemy drones, but even those do not work against drones that operate on fiber optic wires. These cannot be stopped, but on some routes, Ukraine built nets to try and catch drones before they could hit the target.
The original search for damaged US-made Bradley armored vehicles near the Russian border is abandoned when Russian drones receive intelligence that they are operating nearby. Instead, he tries to find another broken Bradley. There is less risk there.
He and his driver still have to overcome obstacles along the way. Trees and branches are scattered across their paths – wreckage from recent Russian airstrikes. Several more explosions are seen in the distance, temporarily turning the night sky orange.
Serei eventually finds his broken Bradley. It has already been recovered from the battlefield across the border and loaded into trucks to be retrieved for repairs.
Bradley’s commander confirms to me that they are fighting in Russia. He describes the cross-border situation as “it’s difficult, but we hold it.”
BBC/Matthew Goddard
The team finds Bradley and is now heading back to Ukraine for repairs
Bradley reminds us that Ukraine relies on US military support. That doesn’t seem to be much certain now that Trump is focusing on peace talks. Serhi says it is already clear that it is “scattered behind the back of Ukraine.”
I ask Serhey if he thinks that European countries can fill any void left by the US. Is the “rejoic union” in Europe enough to guarantee Ukraine’s safety?
“I think if the US does not help Ukraine, a ceasefire will soon be agreed, but at a very disadvantage for Ukraine,” replies Serei.
“Europe clearly cannot resolve this conflict alone. They are not strong enough. They have focused on their own economy, not on their own.”
Serei says he hopes that he will end the war. Like many Ukrainians, he wants to see peace, but not at any price.
Additional Reports by Volodymyr Lozkho and Anastasiia levchenko
