Ukraine, Kursk attack is not madness: Kiev’s plan

The best defense is a good offense. That is why Ukraine has launched an offensive across the border with Russia, targeting the Kursk region.to prevent a push by Moscow in the war that has been going on for more than 900 days. According to General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Kiev armed forces, before the start of the incursion of Ukrainian forces across the border on August 6, Russia was about to launch a new surprise ground attack against Ukraine from the Kursk region. Moscow had moved tens of thousands of units into the oblastincluding some of its best strike forces, the general said in an interview with CNN.

The Ukrainian operation, after a month, does not convince many experts: what is the final objective? At what price? Syrskyi for now claims that the blitz, now consolidated with the control acquired over about 1200 square kilometers of Russian territory, “has reduced the threat of an enemy offensive. But not only that”.

“We prevented their action. We moved the fighting into enemy territory so that the enemy could experience what we experience every day,” the general emphasizes.

The main objectives of the operation are to prevent Russian forces from using Kursk as a launching base for new offensives. on Ukrainian territory, and displace Moscow’s forces from other areas, create a security zone, prevent raids against civilians from across the border, take prisoners of war and raise the morale of the Ukrainian forces and the country.

The choice to deploy men and equipment on Russian soil risked penalizing Ukraine in other areas of the front. In Donetsk, in particular, Russian pressure never decreased and during the month of August the invaders gained ground. Now, however, says Syrskyi, the Ukrainian forces have managed to create a stalemate: in the last six days the Russian units have not conquered even a meter in the direction of Pokrovsk, a crucial logistical node that would allow the Russians to cut off Ukrainian logistics and plan a further offensive towards the west. “In other words, our strategy is working,” says Syrskyi.

The situation in the East remains complex, as confirmed by the data of the last 24 hours: “There have been 165 clashes with the Russians, and the enemy has launched 2 missile attacks (6 missiles), 57 air strikes (in particular, using 61 kamikaze drones) and 472 kamikaze drone attacks, and carried out 2,776 attacks on the positions of our troops,” the Ukrainian General Staff emphasizes.