RECENTLY, Ukraine attacked Russia’s Kursk Oblast to the surprise of both Russian leaders and their Western allies.
The attack was an impressive execution of blitzkrieg warfare, a sharp contrast to the meat grinder of the entire war.
Ukrainians managed to take a large chunk of Russian territory, destroying bridges and other infrastructure as they pushed their attack and bloodied the Russian’s noses.
But despite the incursion’s success, it was never meant to win the war. Momentum slowed, supply lines reached their limits and eventually the Ukrainians had to stop their advance and dig in.
As of the writing of this article, Russian forces are still trying to dislodge and destroy the Ukrainians in Kursk. No one knows how this will turn out but as of August 20th, the battle is still ongoing.
Analysts believe that the Ukrainians carried out the incursion to gain a bargaining chip when the time comes to negotiate an armistice.
Others say it is to divert Russian forces from other areas.
Personally, I think the Kursk incursion was more than about taking land or gaining a bargaining chip. In many ways, the attack’s real value was in prestige and morale.
Few could have foreseen Ukraine’s success in this particular operation, let alone the failure of the Russian garrison to put up a fight.
This attack has further damaged Russian military prestige, and harmed Vladimir Putin’s political power. It’s also very likely that Russia’s allies are quite concerned about the situation, and may have some concerns about Russia’s reliability as an ally.
Despite these gains on the Ukrainian side, however, they do not change the math on the ground. Ukraine is still numerically smaller than Russia, and they cannot keep throwing men and material on the meat grinder.
Were it not for Western support, this war would have been over already. But the Kursk incursion proves that the Ukrainians are capable of punching well above their weight./PN
