Faced with its enemy, Ukraine has no choice but to fight with the best weapon at its disposal: surprise. Like David surprising Goliath, Kiev has shaken up mighty Russia by invading 100 localities on about 1,300 square kilometers of its territory in the Kursk region. In Sumy, Ukraine, close to the Russian border, the mood of Ukrainian fighters is very different from the low morale prevailing on the rest of the Eastern Front.
As Moscow’s forces continue their advance in the Donbass, soldiers on the Russian front want to believe that Operation Kursk marks a turning point in the war. Although some commentators in kyiv fear that this offensive has diverted forces that would have been needed in Donbass, the military remains enthusiastic about the unexpected success of the incursion into Russia, a model of initiative and element of surprise on the battlefield. “The soldiers were very excited when they learned the objective of the operation and morale remains very high. Invading a part of Russia is not only an incredible sign, but it is much easier to fight here than in Donbass.”Sasha, a fighter, trusts 225my assault battalion, one of the units that broke through the first Russian line on August 6, at the start of the offensive.
“A safari”
If Andri, another soldier, mentions a “safari”and a third, Evgeni, tells the “fear of the Russians who no longer dare to advance”Sasha puts the ease of initial operations into perspective by acknowledging that “Russian soldiers fought on each of the first three lines of defense”. “On the first day, some people played Rambo and we had to kill them because they wouldn’t stop fighting. In the following days, they fought less fiercely and we recorded surrenders.” Kyiv says it has captured 594 enemy units.
Military operations “We were almost arrested” in the last days of August, according to Andri, a soldier from a reconnaissance unit of the 80thmy air assault brigade, in order to “allow assault units to rest” and of “strengthen the defense system”It is not clear to what extent kyiv intends to defend this territory when Moscow launches a counteroffensive. “We are waiting for orders, Andri said, But I imagine our own commanders do not yet know when the Russian attack will come.
In addition to the surprise and glimpse of the success of “Operation Kursk,” the event also highlighted certain new developments that have occurred in the military since General Oleksandr Syrsky took command in February. Attack drone units, united in a new branch of the military, the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS), saw their first offensive since their reorganization.
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