As Russia retakes Kursk, Ukrainians ask, 'Was it worth it?'

Mariia Pankova, a friend of 25-years-old Pavlo Humeniuk, serviceman of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade, with the call sign 'Hor', who was declared missing-in-action in Kursk region of Russia, reacts during an interview with Reuters, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

KYIV (Reuters) - When Mariia Pankova last exchanged messages with her close friend Pavlo in December, she had no idea that he was among the Ukrainian troops fighting in Russia's Kursk region.

She found out when a fellow soldier told her several days later that her friend, Pavlo Humeniuk, 24, a combat engineer in Ukraine's 47th Magura brigade, had gone missing near the village of Novoivanivka in Kursk on December 6.