A Blow To Putin
14- 10.08.2024, 8:59
- 16,710
The Kremlin has not seen such challenges since the rebels marched on Moscow.
A stunning Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region presented the biggest challenge to the Russian leader since an uprising by Wagner mercenaries in June 2023, and it could take the Russians a year to return the territories occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this region, The Washington Post writes.
According to the journalists, the attack on Kursk, which is adjacent to Ukraine’s Sumy region, caught Russian defenses thinly staffed and seemingly unaware.
Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected political analyst, said there were obvious failures.
“This is a failure of the entire system of intelligence, and since Putin is responsible for this, then it’s clear this is a blow to Putin,” he said.
Some Russian analysts said they feared that it could take a long time to take back the territory seized by Ukrainian troops if a full-scale counterattack by Russian reinforcements was delayed for several more days.
Ukrainian brigades would have time to dig in to fortified positions, potentially handing Kyiv a powerful bargaining chip in case of future cease-fire or peace negotiations.
“If they (the Ukrainians — edit.) act with the same speed with which Russia attacks in other places, then it could take a year to return the Kursk region,” Markov said.
However, Markov said the situation for Putin could be resolved if Ukraine’s attack is defeated. “People are still hoping this will end in the destruction of the Ukrainian forces,” he said.
The Washington Post journalists underlined that the successful operation on Russian soil — after more than two years of fighting almost exclusively in Ukraine — had psychological value for Kyiv, boosting the morale of Ukrainian troops and civilians by showing Putin and his military as hobbling and ineffective.
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