Nearly four months into Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, military officials admit it's slipping away. Whether the Ukrainians can hold onto Russia's Kursk territory is a question no one on the war front can answer.
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00:00Close to the Russian border, we're making our way to a Ukrainian tank repair position.
00:06They're in a cluster of trees, in a bid to hide from Russian reconnaissance drones.
00:11This tank has just returned inside Ukrainian territory.
00:15A little over an hour ago it was inside Russia battling on the front lines.
00:20It's a British Challenger tank.
00:23They and other Western-supplied weapons have been crucial in Ukraine's fight,
00:27and the men here need them to continue.
00:31There are different opinions on whether to give us support or not,
00:35to continue supporting Ukraine or to stop. Everyone here is worried about it.
00:41If that support dries up, Oleksandr is in no doubt his life will get even harder.
00:48It'll be very difficult, very difficult, but we will fight with what we have.
00:56These soldiers from the 82nd Separate Air Assault Brigade spearheaded the operation
01:01pushing into Russia's Kursk region this summer.
01:04In an attempt to take back the lost territory, Russia has mounted a counter-offensive,
01:09backed by an estimated 50,000 troops.
01:12That includes soldiers from its ally North Korea,
01:15though it's not entirely clear if the North Koreans have taken part in fighting yet.
01:23No, officially we haven't seen them.
01:25Even if they are there, just imagine they are there. Does it change anything?
01:30One thing it does seem to have changed is Western countries' policy
01:34on Ukraine using longer-range weapons they've supplied inside Russian territory.
01:40In November, after months of waiting,
01:42Ukraine got the go-ahead to start firing US attackers into the Kursk region.
01:48It's not clear how dramatically this will change things,
01:51but these soldiers seem optimistic the missiles will help in the long run.
01:58I think it will take some time until we see the results of the long-range weapons usage.
02:06These weapons are aimed at destroying enemy logistics and weapons supplies.
02:14When they will have an insufficient supply of ammunition, food, water and the rest,
02:21then we will see the results.
02:28He thinks those hoped-for results will be important for Ukraine's position
02:33in any negotiations to end the war.
02:38In my opinion, the Kursk operation is an ace card,
02:42as well as a huge motivation, not only for our men, but for the whole armed forces.
02:48Yes, the scale of the operation might not be that big, but this is enough.
02:55Whether the Ukrainians can hold on to enough of Russia's Kursk territory long enough
02:59for it to function as an ace card is the question that no one here can answer.