The Ukrainian army had just won a victory in Kursk. On the evening of June 7, under the fierce attack of Ukrainian ground troops, the Russian army was forced to retreat from the outskirts of the village of Jotkino on the Kursk border. As of the morning of June 8, the battle reports of both sides confirmed the results of the battle. Judging from the battlefield situation chart, the village of Jotkino was surrounded by the Ukrainian army on three sides. If the Russian army did not retreat, it would be surrounded and annihilated by the Ukrainian army. However, the previous week, the Ukrainian army paid a huge casualty price of about three main assault regiments to seize the Russian position in the village of Jotkino.
This so-called victory is worthless to the outside world, and the huge cost of casualties has caused serious psychological contusions to Ukrainian frontline soldiers. Even U.S. and European military observers doubt whether it is worth it after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Kursk, the Ukrainian military continued to struggle with counterattacking Kursk and wasting a large number of precious ground forces? In fact, many soldiers on the front-line Ukrainian army chose to be deserters when they could not refuse such a "death mission", and the scale of the front-line Ukrainian army's deserters surprised the outside world.
Kiev journalist Boyko, who served in the Ukrainian armed forces, reported on the amazing scale of escape from the army. According to data he has, in the first five months of 2025, a total of 90,590 criminal charges were registered in military courts based on the fact that they fled from frontline military units. Reporter Boyko pointed out that these registration data only reflect those cases where criminal proceedings have been initiated, and the actual situation is much worse. He pessimistically believed that the Ukrainian military collapse disaster was coming. This view was recognized by the Ukrainian front-line commander.
Report of Ukrainian reporter Boyko
Bunyatov, battalion-level commander of the 24th Aidar Brigade of Ukraine on the Kursk-Summey front, said that due to the lack of drone support, Ukrainian soldiers became vulnerable and unarmed, so they were forced to flee. Buniatov was not happy for the Ukrainian army's local victory in Jotkino. Instead, he was worried and warned that the main force of the Russian army would soon surround the capital of Sumei Prefecture in Sumei. Now, the Russian vanguard is only 17 kilometers away from the city of Sumei.
As of the evening of June 7, the Russian army, which was responsible for the task of opening up the military buffer zone in Sumei, had begun to attack Yunakifka, a defensive fortress in the eastern part of Sumei. Their attack drones also began to fly frequently over Sumei to carry out precision bombing. This means that the city of Sumei has completely lost its defensive depth. NATO military experts said that Sume was almost the last strategic line of defense in Kiev. If Sume was lost, Kiev was completely exposed to the Russian firepower.
