Ukraine's Kursk operation: commander of 95th Air Assault Brigade describes aircraft and Marder IFV's role

Colonel Oleh Apostol, the commander of the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Air Assault Forces of Ukraine who goes by the alias Formosa, has recounted how his unit carried out an offensive on Russia’s Kursk Oblast after heavy fighting for Toretsk in Donbas.

Source: Apostol in an interview with Novynarnia, a Ukrainian news outlet 

Details: The 95th Brigade has been participating in the operation of the Ukrainian defence forces in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since August 2024. Apostol said that the unit received an order to break through the border when it was taking part in heavy fighting for Toretsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast. He stressed that his soldiers quickly adapted to the new conditions, despite the minimal time they had to prepare.

The brigade captured several settlements in Kursk Oblast, including the villages of Pogrebki, Khitrovka and Kamyshevka, and continues to hold them. Apostol stressed the important role of manoeuvres and raids in this operation, as the Russians’ defence lines in the area were not echeloned, allowing Ukrainian forces to act more flexibly.

Quote: "I went in [with his 95th brigade] harder than the 80th and 82nd brigades did. They [these brigades] had time to prepare, and I went straight from Toretsk to Kursk Oblast, we were given only three days to prepare. Three days, including the road."

Details: Apostol noted the work of aircraft, namely MiG and Su aircraft, which were renovated to carry foreign bombs. This allowed them to hit the target with an error of only 2-3 metres. Apostol said that this greatly simplified military operations. 

Quote: "If you need to hit a certain target, you have the capacity to do so. If you need to use HIMARS, no problem. They also played their role."

More details: In addition to aircraft, Apostol emphasised the importance of German-supplied equipment, namely the Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which were effectively used to break through Russian positions.

"In Kursk Oblast, they [the Marder vehicles] worked like a mower, destroying buildings where the Russians were hiding. If it wasn't for such equipment, I don't know if I would have taken the village of Malaya Loknya," Apostol said.

He also praised the effectiveness of the US-delivered M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, but said he wanted even more powerful weapons for these vehicles.

Apostol said it had become harder to fight in Kursk Oblast. He noted that the Russian elite, marines and air assault troops, had been redeployed to Kursk Oblast. "It will be difficult to fight, it will be difficult to hold it all," he added.

"There is already a line of contact in Kursk Oblast. To distract the Russians from here, we need to take some other front and move there," Apostol said. 

Background:

• Pavlo Rozlach, alias Vedmid ("Bear"), Commander of the 80th Separate Galician Air Assault Brigade, said that paratroopers from the 80th Brigade had managed to infiltrate Russian territory in Kursk Oblast two days before the operation began, allowing them to disrupt the communication system and disorient Russian units.
• As is known from open sources, the core of the Kursk operation was formed by two brigades of the Air Assault Forces of Ukraine – the legendary 80th Brigade from Lviv and the 82nd Brigade from Chernivtsi, formed last year. In the second week of the operation, they were joined by a part of the equally hardened 95th Airborne Brigade. 
• The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russian troops intensified counterattacks in Russia’s Kursk Oblast on 10 and 11 October to try to push Ukrainian forces out before deteriorating weather conditions limit their manoeuvres on the battlefield.
• Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that Russia had redeployed about 50,000 troops to its Kursk Oblast, weakening its position on the battlefield in Ukraine. 

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