Will Putin Take the Bait in Kursk?

[Litwin]

Russia is tightening its offensive by sending additional troops to Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, taking advantage of the opportunity that some of Ukraine's most elite troops were sent to Kursk. While Russia is taking full control of Donetsk, Ukraine is losing ground in eastern Ukraine. The Kursk offensive is a risky gambit and it will pay a dear price in its own territory.



New York is a strategically important point where there is a highway used by the Ukrainian military to supply ammunition and food. If the Russian military could use the railway that passes through the area, it would be able to strengthen supplies and speed up attacks, and Ukraine would lose the opportunity to recover southern Donetsk.

Russia Announces Seizure Of Key East Ukraine Hub New York

Russian forces said Tuesday they had captured the key hub of New York in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow -- under pressure by a Kyiv counterattack on its territory -- presses on with its offensive.

www.ndtv.com

 

[Deadstick]

The Ukrainian incursion into Russia is not part of a serious military campaign. Rather, it is intended to provoke a Russian response inside Ukraine which would then be characterized as an overt attempt to take over and destroy Ukraine. Will it work?

Until now, the Russians have only occupied largely Russian-speaking areas of Ukraine and have adopted a defensive attrition posture which is bleeding the Ukrainian Army dry and undermining Western support for continuing to fuel the carnage. What the NATO war hawks need are new excuses for prolonging their proxy war against Russia. They would like to see perceived atrocities in Russia result in even greater atrocities in Ukraine, thereby whipping up public support for even greater military involvement.

Will Putin take this bait? He would be wise to avoid retaliatory attacks inside Ukraine and instead concentrate on encircling and capturing the Ukrainian special forces now inside Russia. It would be interesting to find out who they are and who planned their operation.

You can bet some are NATO soldiers masquerading as Ukrainian soldiers or mercenaries, i would give any foreign terrorists a first class trial followed by a first class hanging.

 

[Dissident]

Yesterday, Le Figaro published an article on the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory - L’Ukraine face au pari risqué d’une «zone-tampon» en Russie

To capture more than 100 settlements in the Kursk region, Ukraine deployed troops, which may be lacking in the Donbass. The invasion of Russia represents a military and political coup: but what to do about it? asks LF, as the Russian army continues to advance in the Donbass towards the logistics hub - Pokrovsk.

See one of today's comments on this article below.

Cimabue
Aug. 22, 2024 07:30

This buffer zone is in this war, an area that the Ukrainians will have to occupy. Given Russia's strategic depth, we can imagine that the Ukrainians will have to stop or dilute their troops over a huge territory and become very vulnerable. The two countries have enormous problems recruiting new fighters without resorting to a general mobilization that is very politically “challenging”. The Russians hold 20% of the territory of Ukraine and they will favor keeping what they occupy... The attack on Russian territory has no chance of bringing a gain on the military level and it is not certain that this option may bring a political gain. Zelensky is in his usual role proclaiming that the red lines are a bluff but the allies will ask themselves the question of a possible escalation. The Germans, who have been very cautious from the start, are taking a further step backwards and the Americans will never neglect the last red line, the nuclear risk if Russia will be pushed into a situation of existential threat.

 

[Litwin]

Yesterday, Le Figaro published an article on the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory - L’Ukraine face au pari risqué d’une «zone-tampon» en Russie

To capture more than 100 settlements in the Kursk region, Ukraine deployed troops, which may be lacking in the Donbass. The invasion of Russia represents a military and political coup: but what to do about it? asks LF, as the Russian army continues to advance in the Donbass towards the logistics hub - Pokrovsk.

See one of today's comments on this article below.

 

[Deadstick]

What Putin needs to do is to stop the Ukrainian advance in the Kursk region and carry on with his campaign in the Donbas. They are almost at the gates of two towns there - Pokrovsk and Torezk - two main logistical centers of Ukrainian army. When these towns are taken by them, this opens a way to the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration from the south - their main goal in the region.

I won't be surprised at all if this Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region will end up like another great offensive on the Sea of Azov direction ended last year - with massive losses of personnel and Western military hardware for no results achieved.

They have already lost thousands in Kursk and many vehicles

 

[ESay]

They have already lost thousands in Kursk and many vehicles

No one knows actual figures. Both Ukrainian and Russian propaganda are well known for their shameless disinformation. But overall, yes, I consider the Kursk operation a great blunder.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What Putin needs to do is to stop the Ukrainian advance in the Kursk region and carry on with his campaign in the Donbas. They are almost at the gates of two towns there - Pokrovsk and Torezk - two main logistical centers of Ukrainian army. When these towns are taken by them, this opens a way to the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration from the south - their main goal in the region.

I won't be surprised at all if this Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region will end up like another great offensive on the Sea of Azov direction ended last year - with massive losses of personnel and Western military hardware for no results achieved.

Ukraine is on the verge of total collapse.

The Kursk incursion was a desperate Hilteresque Battle of the Bulge Offensive and will come to the same end

All this so Ukrainian leadership can cash more US aid checks

 

[ESay]

Ukraine is on the verge of total collapse.

The Kursk incursion was a desperate Hilteresque Battle of the Bulge Offensive and will come to the same end

All this so Ukrainian leadership can cash more US aid checks

Don't know what you mean by total collapse, but don't think so. I regularly read Russian news channels, including so called 'voenkors' (military bloggers), and I don't have a feeling that Russian army is capable of some major breakthrough. Slow tactical advances, as seen in the Donbas, yes.

Russian and Ukrainian armies are twins in their tactics, command structure and their competence, motivation and quality of soldiers etc. They are virtually the same, with the exception that Putin has a far larger pool of serfs to draw from than Ukraine does. But he doesn't want to rump up mobilization figures for some obvious reasons.