On March 12, a Facebook user shared videos (1, 2), through various Facebook accounts, claiming that they show Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region surrendering to the Russians. The video states that “two days ago,” 10,000 Russian troops walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in the Kursk region, encircled them, and as a result, in the past 24 hours, 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered, while an additional 100,000 are surrounded and awaiting their turn.
Most of the footage shown in the circulated videos does not actually depict Ukrainian soldiers surrendering in the Kursk region. In reality, the majority of these clips were filmed in Mariupol in 2022. Moreover, the claim that 150,000 Ukrainians are fighting in Kursk is false – their actual number is around 10,000.
The videos shared on Facebook consist of different clips, with a narrator claiming that in recent days, as a result of a successful Russian offensive in the Kursk region, 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already surrendered, and the video allegedly shows hundreds of them with raised hands in a sign of surrender. In reality, while most of the footage does show Ukrainian soldiers surrendering, it was filmed on different territories several years ago. The spokesperson for Ukraine’s General Staff has already commented on one of the videos that appears at the beginning of both video compilations circulating on Facebook. According to a post by Dmytro Likhovyi, this footage was filmed in April 2022 and shows members of Ukraine’s 501st Battalion surrendering in Mariupol. In an attempt to verify this claim, we found that the footage in question was indeed widely circulated on social media in April 2022, and according to its description, it depicted the surrender of the 501st Battalion.
Several frames in one of the videos also depict events that took place in Mariupol:
- The opening frame of the video shows the moment of the surrender of Ukraine’s 36th Brigade, which also took place in April 2022.
- In April 2022, according to Russian claims, more than 1,000 Ukrainians surrendered in Mariupol.
- The next frame shows the surrender of Ukrainian fighters fortified in the Azovstal plant in 2022.
- According to Russian media claims, one frame shows Ukrainian fighters surrendering in Kursk. However, it is noteworthy that this information was spread by them six months ago, in August 2024.
- The next frame does not depict Ukrainian soldiers surrendering, but rather the moment of blessing Russian troops conscripted for war.
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What’s Happening in Kursk?
On August 6, 2024, in a surprise move, a segment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered the Kursk region in the Russian territory and rapidly captured areas. Ultimately, they managed to establish control over 1,376 square kilometers. However, the Russian army and its North Korean allies intensified their actions, and Ukraine gradually began losing these territories. By early March, Russian forces had further escalated their attacks, recapturing more than 70% of the land. The latest offensives have proved particularly difficult for Ukrainian troops, forcing them to retreat, and according to international media reports, an evacuation process is now actively underway.
As of now, there is no official information regarding Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner, wounded, or killed in Kursk in recent days. However, it should be noted that the figures mentioned in the Facebook video cannot be accurate. The narrator claims that in just one day, 50,000 Ukrainian troops have surrendered, while another 100,000 remain encircled. In reality, according to reputable media outlets such as Politico and Forbes, the total number of Ukrainian troops in Kursk is around 10,000.
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