Kursk - it's a region some want to hold at all costs while others question the value of having gone in at all. Battles are so intense that some Ukrainian commanders can’t evacuate the dead. Communication lags and poorly timed tactics have cost lives,

Five months after their shock offensive into Russia, Ukrainian troops are bloodied by daily combat losses and demoralized by the rising risk of defeat in Kursk.

“They are performing quite well,” Ukrainian war correspondent Andrii Tsaplienko said of the 47th Mechanized Brigade’s dozen or so surviving Abrams. Ukrainian crews have praised the M-1’s thick protection and accurate fire controls.