Ukraine’s Kursk Gambit Fades as Russia Reclaims Ground

Ukraine’s once-promising offensive into Russia’s Kursk region has all but collapsed, with Kyiv’s forces now controlling just 110 square kilometers of the 1,300 they seized last summer, according to The New York Times on March 16, 2025. The campaign, launched in August 2024 to disrupt Moscow’s war machine and secure a foothold for negotiations, has unraveled under a brutal Russian counteroffensive, leaving Ukraine with little more than a border strip to show for months of fighting.

Russian forces, reinforced by North Korean units, have pounded Ukrainian positions with airstrikes and drones, driving them from Sudzha—a town briefly touted as a symbol of Kyiv’s reach into enemy territory. The Times reports that the latest losses, finalized last week, reflect a stark miscalculation: Ukraine’s stretched troops couldn’t withstand Moscow’s relentless pushback. What began as a strategic jab has turned into a retreat, with soldiers describing chaotic withdrawals amid dwindling ammunition and mounting casualties.

The setback reverberates beyond Kursk. With Russia now eyeing Ukraine’s Sumy region, Kyiv faces a widening defensive crisis as winter approaches. The New York Times highlights the human cost—exhausted fighters, some frostbitten, recounting a grueling slog against an enemy gaining ground. Ukraine’s dream of flipping the war’s script has faded, replaced by the reality of a tenacious foe and a sliver of contested land, underscoring the steep price of ambition in a grinding conflict.