Ukraine’s surprise attack into Russia ups ante for Putin

Source: The Hill | August 10, 2024 | Brad Dress

Ukrainian forces pushed into Russia this week to attack a border region in a stunning counteroffensive that comes after Kyiv has been largely on the defensive for the past year and a half. 

The Ukrainian attack, the first from a foreign nation on Russia’s European soil since World War II, has set off an emergency in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy province.  

Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles have advanced at least 20 miles and are continuing to press deeper into Kursk on the fourth day of battle, capturing dozens of Russian border guards, taking several towns and surrounding the city of Sudzha, where fighting continues.  

The surprise attack has infuriated Russian President Vladimir Putin, who called the incursion a “major provocation,” sparking fears of a potential Kremlin escalation not only in the war against Ukraine, but also with the U.S., the primary supporter of Kyiv. 

Although it’s unclear how the offensive will proceed, Ukraine has successfully changed the narrative of the war by breaking into Russia, said Alena Kudzko, vice president for policy and programming at the think tank GLOBSEC. 

“Ukrainians are trying hard to change the narrative of the war. Before [Kursk], there was a feeling that the war has become rather predictable, and on many sides, the war was already perceived as frozen,” she said. “By doing this attack, Ukraine actually has managed to demonstrate that there’s really space for making this war unpredictable, that there’s space for surprising Russia.” 

The Kursk offensive is reminiscent of the 2022 Kharkiv and Kherson counteroffensives, in which high-speed Ukrainian maneuvers caught Russia by surprise. 

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