On the battlefield they are hated soldiers; when captured, ordinary people
On the 910th day of a war that has reshaped a continent, hundreds of Russian conscripts crossed into Ukrainian custody not through defeat but through abandonment — left behind by commanders as Ukrainian forces drove deep into the Kursk region. The offensive, launched on August 6th, has exposed a contradiction at the heart of Russia's war: a state that promised its citizens their sons would not fight on Russian soil now scrambles to defend it with those same sons. In the detention centres of Sumy, terrified young men are discovering that the enemy they were told to fear is feeding them, and the country they were told to protect has forgotten them.
- Ukrainian forces have pushed 28–35 kilometres into Russia's Kursk region, the deepest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II, forcing Moscow into a reactive posture it did not anticipate.
- Russian conscripts — not the professional soldiers the Kremlin promised would bear the war's burden — are surrendering in numbers, many reporting they were simply left behind when Ukrainian troops arrived.
- Russia is forming three new military groupings named after the threatened border regions and pulling troops from other fronts, a redeployment that risks weakening pressure elsewhere even as Donetsk deteriorates.
- Missile and drone strikes continue their relentless toll: a chlorine gas emergency in Ternopil, power cut to tens of thousands in Sumy, and a 14-year-old boy killed beside a playground in Zaporizhzhia — his name unrecorded.
- Ukraine's parliament voted to ban the Russian-linked Orthodox Church from operating on Ukrainian soil, a signal that the war is not only redrawing borders but dismantling the institutional ties that once bound the two nations.
On day 910 of the war, a 22-year-old Russian conscript sat in a detention facility just inside Ukraine's Sumy region and described what had happened simply: when the Ukrainians came, his commanders left. He wanted only to go home to his family.
Agence France-Presse visited the facility and found no visible coercion. The deputy head, Volodymyr, described men who arrived terrified and gradually understood they would not be harmed. "On the battlefield they are hated soldiers," he said, "and when they are captured they become ordinary people." Negotiations for an exchange were already underway.
Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported forces had advanced between 17 and 22 miles into Russia's Kursk region. Moscow responded by forming three new military groupings — named Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk — and redeploying troops from other fronts. The Kremlin faced a domestic reckoning it had long sought to avoid: conscripts were now fighting and surrendering on Russian soil. State media blamed American, British, and Polish intelligence for planning the incursion. Zelenskiy replied that he had told the allies nothing — they would have called it unrealistic.
The war's violence did not pause. Russian missiles struck an industrial facility in Ternopil, releasing chlorine gas and forcing residents indoors. Power was cut to over 18,500 consumers in Sumy. Ukraine's air force intercepted most of the drones and missiles, but a 14-year-old boy died in hospital after a Russian munition struck a kiosk metres from a children's playground in Zaporizhzhia. His name was not recorded.
In the east, conditions worsened. Zelenskiy called the situation in Donetsk "difficult." Residents of Pokrovsk were evacuating after warnings that fighting could reach the city within two weeks. Russia announced the capture of Niu-York, a town contested since 2014. A Russian oil depot in Rostov, struck by Ukrainian drones, had been burning for three days.
Ukraine's parliament voted to ban any religious organisation affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church from operating on Ukrainian soil. The war was remaking not only the map, but the institutions of the state itself.
On day 910 of the war, hundreds of Russian soldiers were walking into Ukrainian custody across the Kursk border—not as prisoners of a defeated army, but as men abandoned by their own command. The Ukrainian offensive that began on August 6 had pushed deep into Russian territory, and as Ukrainian troops advanced, Russian conscripts found themselves with a choice that seemed to resolve itself. A 22-year-old Russian conscript, sitting in a detention facility just inside Ukraine's Sumy region, described the moment plainly: he and others were simply left behind when the Ukrainians came. Now he wanted only to be exchanged and sent home to his family.
Agence France-Presse visited the detention centre and found Ukrainian guards present but no visible coercion. The prisoners, according to the facility's deputy head Volodymyr, had arrived terrified. Then something shifted. They realized they were being treated decently—fed, not tortured, not executed. "On the battlefield they are hated soldiers," Volodymyr said, "and when they are captured they become ordinary people." Ukraine was already negotiating with Russia over an exchange for these men. The arithmetic of war had changed for them in an instant.
Ukraine's military had driven between 17 and 22 miles into Russia's Kursk region, according to army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Moscow was responding by pulling troops from other fronts and forming three new military groupings—named Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk after the regions they would defend. The Kremlin faced a domestic problem it had promised to avoid: conscripts, not professional soldiers, were now fighting on Russian soil. The state-controlled newspaper Izvestia quoted Russian intelligence claiming that American, British, and Polish intelligence had helped plan the Ukrainian incursion. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy countered that he had told the allies nothing—they would have called the operation unrealistic, and secrecy would have been impossible anyway.
The war's violence continued its relentless rhythm. Russian missiles and drones struck energy infrastructure across northern Ukraine on Tuesday, hitting an industrial facility in Ternopil and releasing chlorine gas into the air. People were ordered indoors. In the northeastern Sumy region, the same attack knocked out power to 72 settlements and more than 18,500 consumers. Ukraine's air force shot down three ballistic missiles and 25 of 26 drones launched across nine regions—Russia's fifth major missile attack on Kyiv that month. A 14-year-old boy died in hospital after a Russian munition struck a kiosk meters from a children's playground in Zaporizhzhia. His name was not recorded in the dispatch.
In the east, the situation was deteriorating. Zelenskiy described conditions in Donetsk as "difficult." Toretsk, a city Moscow was close to capturing, saw 14 combat clashes in a single day. The Pokrovsk sector recorded 34. Residents of Pokrovsk were leaving their homes after authorities warned that fighting would likely reach the city within two weeks. The Kremlin announced it had seized Niu-York, a town that had been contested since 2014. Russian defense minister Andrei Belousov said on national television that additional troops were being sent to the Pokrovsk region. Meanwhile, in the south, Russian forces were still fighting a massive fire at an oil depot in Rostov that Ukrainian drones had hit—the blaze had burned for three days straight.
Ukraine's parliament passed legislation banning the Russian-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, prohibiting any religious organization affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church from operating on Ukrainian soil. The vote was described as historic. The war was remaking not just the map but the institutions of the state itself.
Citações Notáveis
Simply abandoned by our command when Ukrainian troops appeared; hoping to be exchanged and go back home to my family— 22-year-old Russian conscript PoW
On the battlefield they are hated soldiers and when they are captured they become ordinary people— Volodymyr, deputy head of detention facility
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would Russian soldiers surrender in the hundreds? That seems like a significant breakdown in command.
It wasn't a collapse so much as a moment of clarity. When your officers disappear and Ukrainian troops appear, you're suddenly alone. Surrender becomes the rational choice—you live, you get fed, you might go home.
The detention facility deputy said something striking about how prisoners "came to life" after realizing they were treated well. What does that tell us?
It tells you that fear was the only thing keeping them in the fight. Once that fear lifted, they were just conscripts—young men who didn't want to die for territory they'd never heard of.
Ukraine is already negotiating exchanges. Does that suggest confidence in their position?
It suggests they understand the value of what they have. These aren't just prisoners; they're leverage. And they're also proof that Russian command abandoned its own people.
The Kremlin is forming three new military groupings. Is that a sign of panic?
It's a sign of being forced to respond. You don't reorganize your entire defensive structure unless you're losing ground you thought was secure. Putin promised conscripts wouldn't fight in Ukraine. Now they're surrendering inside Russia.
A 14-year-old died near a playground. How does that fit into the larger picture?
It doesn't fit anywhere. It's just what happens when you attack energy infrastructure in populated areas. The chlorine gas, the blackouts, the dead child—these are the consequences of targeting civilian infrastructure, and they accumulate.