In Photos: The Russian Border Town of Sudzha Under Ukrainian Control
More than two weeks have passed since the Ukrainian army launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. The Aug. 6 offensive marks the first time since World War II that foreign troops have occupied Russian territory.
According to DeepState UA, an open-source intelligence digital mapping service, the Ukrainian army has captured at least 646 square kilometers in the Kursk region.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, claims that 93 settlements have come under Ukrainian control, the largest of which is Sudzha, a town with a pre-war population of about 5,000 people.
Founded in the late 17th century, Sudzha was originally a majority Ukrainian city within the Sloboda Ukraine region and served as the administrative capital of a Ukrainian Cossack unit. Over the centuries, as Ukraine came under Russian imperial and later Soviet control, the city alternated between Ukrainian and Russian rule.
Today, the town is the site of a key natural gas transit point on a pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Here is a look at photos from Sudzha following Ukraine's capture of the town:
According to DeepState UA, an open-source intelligence digital mapping service, the Ukrainian army has captured at least 646 square kilometers in the Kursk region.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, claims that 93 settlements have come under Ukrainian control, the largest of which is Sudzha, a town with a pre-war population of about 5,000 people.
Founded in the late 17th century, Sudzha was originally a majority Ukrainian city within the Sloboda Ukraine region and served as the administrative capital of a Ukrainian Cossack unit. Over the centuries, as Ukraine came under Russian imperial and later Soviet control, the city alternated between Ukrainian and Russian rule.
Today, the town is the site of a key natural gas transit point on a pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine.
Here is a look at photos from Sudzha following Ukraine's capture of the town:
A Ukrainian soldier walks along a damaged street in Sudzha, Kursk region.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
Elderly residents sit beside a sign that reads "There are civilians in the basement, no military."
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A damaged statue of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, in Sudzha.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A destroyed shop in the Ukrainian-controlled town of Sudzha.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
The damaged Sudzha gas measuring station bearing the Gazprom logo.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A house with "People live here, one-year-old child" painted on its facade.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A man inspects a damaged road sign with directions to Ukraine and Russia at a destroyed border crossing near Sudzha.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A destroyed Russian tank outside the Ukrainian-controlled Russian town of Sudzha.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A destroyed vehicle beside a ruined building in Sudzha.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
A Pochta Rossii (Post of Russia) post box bearing the Russian coat of arms.
Yan Dobronosov / AFP
