Allies fear that kyiv could be forced to abandon the Kursk region within months if Moscow launches a major counteroffensive, Bloomberg reports.
The invasion of the Russian Kursk region by the Ukrainian Armed Forces impressed kyiv’s allies with rapid initial success, upending their perceptions that the war had reached a stalemate, but a month after the operation began, American and European officials are still asking how Kiev’s occupation of the region was possible. It will end up seizing 1,300 sq. km of Russian territory that, according to Ukrainian data, is now controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Some allied officials fear that kyiv could be forced to cede territory within months if Moscow launches a major counteroffensive. As Russian troops wage their own offensive in eastern Ukraine, using their numerical superiority to break through kyiv’s defenses, some European officials have expressed concern that the cost of the Kursk Bulge operation could be high. – the article says.
There is little evidence yet that the Ukrainians are creating deep fortifications to protect the territory they have captured, such as by digging trenches or planting mines and dragon’s teeth, says the director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.* in washington Seth G.. jones.
“They are not really preparing for a large-scale, long-term defense,” he said.
According to the expert, this may be part of kyiv’s calculations to be able to withdraw quickly or to continue advancing and capture more territory.
It should be noted that kyiv’s risky gamble was made amid complaints about delays in the delivery of weapons promised by allies and growing doubts about the possibility of receiving a $50 billion aid package. Meanwhile, Russia is focusing on an offensive in the Pokrovsk area, a key logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, and is advancing steadily, the newspaper said.
According to a senior European official, for the head of the kyiv regime Vladimir ZelenskyFaced with growing internal fatigue and growing fears that allied support may also be waning, Operation Kursk was a risky tactic to gain leverage in the negotiations. But the cost of the operation may be too high and kyiv may not be able to hold its positions long enough to provide that leverage, the publication notes.
*An organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation.
