KORENEVO, Russia — The carcass of a burned-out American military Humvee lies outside a hotel in this front-line town. This is where Ukraine’s forces were halted amid heavy fighting in August last year, locals tell NBC News. Since then, Russia's fight back bore fruit.
The destroyed vehicle is a drop in the ocean of the $66.5 billion in military aid that the U.S. has provided to Kyiv for its war effort. It’s also a sign of the high watermark of Ukraine’s audacious advance into western Russia in an attempt to win a bargaining chip in the eventual peace talks to end the war triggered by President Vladimir Putin's large-scale invasion in February 2022.
Now, as the Trump administration pushes Ukraine to agree to a rapid peace with Russia, and the Kremlin's troops peel back Kyiv's gains, Kursk represents the shrinking leverage Ukraine has over its vast neighbor.
The U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow last week, on Sunday suggested that the ceasefire discussions would likely involve territorial concessions from Ukraine, including over Kursk.
The snow-covered village of Korenevo, a half-hour drive from Rylsk, where in August Ukrainian troops fought the Russian forces after a surprise incursion, appeared to be mostly abandoned except for the presence of the military and a few residents.
Vladimir, a volunteer unit commander from the Russian forces, told NBC News that there were around 250 casualties just in the first hours of the summer fighting.
The bodies he found were both Ukrainian and Russian, he said, adding that it didn’t matter because “they are all ours.”
“We are all for any opportunity to stop actions, neither we, nor Ukrainians nor America need," he said.
The war’s destruction appeared to be littered all over the village, where houses, burned apartment buildings and a blue car lying upside down lined up the streets amid the rubble.
Across enemy lines
Across enemy lines in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Yuriy, a 56-year-old uniformed sniper, told NBC News that he had been fighting on the front lines for 10 months.
Along with Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy, he does not believe Putin is sincere about stopping the fighting or compromising.
“Putin doesn’t care about peace deal or no peace deal,” he said as he walked with a cane after a Russian drone strike hit his leg. “There will be always some mutt that will keep on barking — someone will pull the trigger to start fighting again.”
Inside a cafe, 23-year-old Anastasia Dorduck, who moved to Kharkiv from the Lutsk oblast in western Ukraine, said there was “always a hope that there will be a change for better, that some agreement will be reached.”
But there were also concerns, she said, adding that “it’s not the first time when some negotiations were held, but they led to nothing.”
Back in the Russian village of Korenevo, military trucks fitted with drone jamming devices passed by heavily armed checkpoints dotted with sandbags. The police wore camouflaged fatigues, while Interior Ministry officials appeared in black uniforms.
NBC News’ crew on the ground was advised not to veer off the road, where Russian troops had dug into the sides, and where Russian drones had dropped mines on the asphalt. They were also told to watch out for “small green butterflies,” or unexploded munitions from the cluster ammunition.
Elena Nikolaevna, 60, who lives across the road from a row of destroyed houses, said she had returned home after being evacuated to reunite with her husband, who stayed behind during the fighting.
The situation had become quieter in recent days, Nikolaevna said, adding, “They don’t shoot at us much,” referring to the Ukrainian troops.
Still, remnants of the destruction from the long-range missiles were visible among the destroyed houses and cars, the bank and kindergarten school downtown, she said.
Near a gas station, a green mask on the ground symbolized a “pick up” spot for casualties, both injured and killed, both Russian and Ukrainian.
Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva reported from Korenevo, Gabe Joselow and Victor Sema from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and Astha Rajvanshi from London.
CORRECTION (March 19, 2025, 9:10 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated what country’s military dropped drones in a Russian town. It was Ukrainian drones, not Russian ones.
