- August 8, 2024
- 5:22 pm
- Ukraine
The Office of the President of Ukraine commented on the events in the Kursk region. According to the adviser to the head of the Office, Mykhailo Podolyak, the events in the Kursk and Belgorod regions demonstrate “a strong conscious connection between Russians and their government.”
It took the Kremlin two days to react to the events in the Kursk region, where Russian troops, in particular, lost control of the city of Sudzha. This city is home to a gas distribution station that ensures gas transit to Europe through Ukraine. According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian troops managed to advance 10 km in the Kursk region on August 6-7. Panic arose in Russian public groups about the possible capture of the Kursk NPP, allegedly for a subsequent exchange for the Zaporizhzhya NPP. These rumors appeared after the interim governor of the Kursk region Alexey Smirnov announced the shooting down of four missiles in Kurchatov, not far from the Kursk NPP, on the night of August 7.
Ukrainian experts believe that the goal of the operation in Kursk Oblast is not to seize the nuclear power plant, as Russia did with Zaporizhzhya NPP, but rather to stretch Russian forces, similar to what Moscow tried to do in early May during its attack on Volchansk in Kharkiv Oblast. Only on the evening of August 7, after videos of mass capture of Russian soldiers and panicked flight of Russians from border regions began to appear in public groups, Putin accused Ukraine of a “large-scale provocation.” A state of emergency was declared in Kursk Oblast, and the head of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, promised Putin to “defeat the enemy and reach the state border.”
Unpredictable events that occur in Russia from time to time once again highlight the deep-rooted problems with decision-making in the Russian administrative apparatus, as well as the closed nature of all processes in the Kremlin and one person. Even the injury of the top Russian propagandist, special correspondent for the TV channels Russia-24 and Russia-1 Evgeny Poddubny in the Kursk region demonstrated the serious administrative chaos that reigns in the Kremlin. As soon as information about his injury appeared, most Russian publics first rushed to “bury” him, and a few hours later “resurrected” him. Already on August 8, a video leaked onto the Internet, showing how the Z-war correspondent's colleagues, who were driving behind his car, did not stop to help.
The US and EU have responded cautiously and even mockingly. While Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called on the international community to respond to the “provocations” in Kursk Oblast, Western countries responded differently. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller noted the irony of the Russian government calling this a provocation, given that Russia itself has violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty since 2014.
“Kyiv did not notify Washington in advance of its plans to conduct an operation in the Kursk region, but there is nothing unusual about this. Ukraine independently makes decisions about conducting its military operations. At the same time, the US policy regarding strikes on Russian territory (further than the regions bordering Ukraine, where Russian armed forces are concentrated) with Western weapons has not changed,” said Matthew Miller.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed that it is important to remember the presence of Russian troops in the Kursk region, which continue to attack Ukraine. Therefore, the United States will continue to support Kyiv in its defense against Moscow's aggression. European Commission Foreign Affairs Spokesman Peter Stano also noted that, according to international law, Ukraine “has a legitimate right to self-defense, including striking an aggressor on its territory.”
The head of the Bundestag's defense committee, Markus Faber, expressed the opinion that anyone who starts a war of conquest against a neighboring country turns their territory into a combat zone. Therefore, Ukraine's actions in the Kursk region are legal and justified from a military point of view, forcing Russia to withdraw troops from the east.
“With this operation, Ukraine demonstrates its ability to act. It also shows the Russian population that their dictator's war of conquest concerns them, too, and not just the Ukrainians. It must be in the interests of Russia and the Russians to end this war. All that remains is to wish good luck to the Ukrainian defenders, including at Kursk. The more successful they are, the sooner the people in the Kremlin will understand that they will not win anything in Ukraine. Only this can lead to a change in the thinking of the aggressor,” Marcus Faber wrote on the social network X.
Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan, who is a non-resident fellow at the US CSIS, noted that the rapid and highly mobile operation by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region caught Russia by surprise, which is an important aspect in the war. He also added that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are likely to have deployed a significant number of air defenses in the area of operation, which deprives Russia of an advantage in the air.
“Ukrainian forces may be much deeper into Russian territory than we know. This is the most significant progress by either side in this war since late 2022. Ukraine may be seeking to distract Russian forces from attacks on New York, and from the offensive on Toretsk and Pokrovsk. However, given Russia's numerical superiority, this outcome is unlikely. Another possible goal of the operation is to force the Russians, who do not have infinite resources, to reconsider their deployment on other parts of the front,” Ryan wrote on social media X.
At the same time, many jokes and memes about the events in Kursk Oblast are spreading on social networks among American and European audiences. Some comment ironically: “Okay, you can’t hit Russia with Western weapons from Ukrainian territory. But you can hit Russia from Russian territory?”, “Putin says he wants Ukraine as part of Russia. His wish has finally come true”, and “Ukrainian troops in Moscow this weekend?”. Users are also spreading fake news about the decision of the Sumy Oblast authorities to accept the city of Sudzha into the region, as well as memes about the voluntary annexation of Kursk to Ukraine in response to the blocking of YouTube in Russia.
Western media are also actively covering the situation. CNN points out that the Kremlin is misleading its citizens by claiming that the advance of Ukrainian forces in Kursk has stopped, despite ongoing fighting.
“With Ukrainian forces under increasing pressure along a nearly 1,000-kilometer front and Moscow continuing its slow, attritional advance, the events in Kursk may be an attempt to distract Russian forces. Given the string of setbacks on the front lines, news of a successful invasion is helping to boost morale among both Ukrainian troops and civilians,” CNN reported in an August 7 article.
The New York Times adds that Ukraine's third major operation on Russian territory since the start of the full-scale war is likely aimed at the same thing as the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region in May of this year.
“It remains unclear whether Ukrainian forces are planning to dig in and try to hold onto Russian territory, or retreat after capturing prisoners and destroying a border post. The attack has some military analysts wondering why Ukraine is risking valuable human and material resources in an assault that opens a new front while fierce fighting is underway to hold onto positions on Ukrainian territory,” the newspaper writes.
In general, while Ukrainian officials remain silent about the events in Kursk region, which is the right tactic, Western media often question this or that Ukrainian military operation. Over these three days, in conditions of a lack of information, European and American media often broadcast not only the positions of the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry, but also anonymous Russian Telegram channels, as NBC News and The Washington Post did, publishing unconfirmed data.
“It's good that Ukraine is taking actions that surprise the Russians. Ukraine is defending itself and is not capable of a major operation to push Russia out of the occupied regions, but it is actively defending itself. You can't allow the Russians to comfortably prepare new attacks. You can't be a boxer and fight with one hand tied behind your back,” Politico quotes retired Polish general and former commander of Poland's special forces Roman Polko as saying.
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