Tyotkino: Russian soldiers report mass losses on Kursk border

Russian soldiers quoted by the Telegram channel “Severny Kanal” report heavy losses near the village of Tyotkino, on the border between Russia’s Kursk Oblast and Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast. According to them, several units have been wiped out there, including the 22nd and 9th regiments and a separate assault detachment. The channel estimates that the death toll could run into the hundreds. These claims have not been independently confirmed.

A minefield and unevacuated wounded

A significant share of the troops reportedly died after Russian units mistakenly walked into a Ukrainian minefield near the village of Bezsalivka, east of Tyotkino.

“The wounded waited weeks for evacuation and died without medical care,” one survivor said. According to him, the bodies of the dead are still lying in wrecked trenches, dugouts and shell craters, including the remains of those who were killed as far back as spring 2025.

“Every crossroads in this area is under Ukrainian control. Ryzhevka forest, the railway: it’s all a damned hell, with bodies everywhere since spring 2025,” another Russian serviceman confirmed. His comrades compare the situation near Tyotkino to “a second Stalingrad”, recalling one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War.

Hunger on the front line

According to one of the channel’s sources, besides the enemy, Russian troops in this area are also fighting hunger. “The guys there don’t even dream of meat anymore. They are literally starving to death,” “Severny Kanal” claims. On Thursday, citing a source among Russian troops near Tyotkino, it reported that two days earlier two soldiers in one of the units had died of hunger right at their positions. “No food, no evacuation for the wounded. And yet they demand that we advance,” the source added.

The settlement itself, according to the channel’s latest information, has been almost wiped off the face of the earth by FPV drones and artillery strikes from both sides. Before the war began in 2022, Tyotkino had a population of about 3,800 people; now not a single intact house is left there.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz