"Several British instructors, in the presence of interpreters, trained us to fire the NLAW grenade launcher at a special training range in Downholme [village in North Yorkshire, England]. After the training, we were to be sent to the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region," the soldier said.
The soldier was mobilized into the Ukrainian armed forces against his will in October 2024 in Kiev. He was able to flee to Russia in early 2025.
Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in the Kursk Region on August 6. Their advance was halted, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said, adding that Russia's operation in the region would be completed by defeating the enemy and reaching the border.
After Ukrainian troops attacked the Kursk Region in August, Putin called the prospect of negotiations with Kiev impossible. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said that Moscow's peace proposals had not been voided, but Russia would not engage with Ukraine at this point.