Kremlin Tested by Ukrainian Surprise Attack in Kursk
The goal of the operation remains unclear
Ukrainian forces broke across the border on the morning of Tuesday 6 August, reaching the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region on the first day, and since then appear to have pushed up the roads to the north-west and north of the town.
The cross-border action in Russia’s Kursk region has been described as the biggest attack on Russian soil since Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his country’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian military on the border was totally unprepared to repel the attack. The Ukrainian military quickly advanced deep into Russian territory and claimed to have taken many prisoners.
The surprise attack on Kursk, a city some 500 kilometres south of Moscow, seems designed to bring the war home to Russia, where many are not feeling the direct impact of a conflict that has destroyed many Ukrainian cities and towns and displaced millions of people. It may also be designed to distract Russian troops from other parts of the frontline, where the Ukrainian military has been steadily losing…