According to the former US ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, the Kursk operation of the Defense Forces of Ukraine demonstrates that Russia is at the limit of its capabilities.
Points of attention
- Former US ambassador Kurt Volker suggests that the Kursk operation demonstrates Russia's limits and strategic vulnerability.
- Ukraine's rational utilization of benefits from the operation showcases strategic calculations and risk minimization.
- The transfer of units to Kurshchyna gives Ukraine a tactical advantage and complicates Russia's efforts in other regions.
- The successful Kursk operation undermines Russian narratives and boosts international support for Ukraine.
- Russia's dilemma of attacking Ukraine while defending its own territories is highlighted, indicating its limitations in the conflict.
Russia is at the limit of possibilities against the backdrop of the Kursk operation of the AFU
The actions of the Defense Forces in the territory of the Kursk region of Russia show that the aggressor country cannot attack and defend at the same time.
Such an opinion was expressed by the former US ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker.
Russia cannot attack Ukraine and defend Russia at the same time, it had to make a choice, he said at the GLOBSEC conference in Prague.
Kurt Walker
US ambassador to NATO
According to him, Russia "will have to move forces out of Ukraine to protect the Russian Federation" and that this is "something we should take advantage of with the help of long-range systems to hit them while they are moving."
The diplomat added that the operation of the Armed Forces in Kurshchyna "demonstrates that Russia is at the limit of its capabilities."
At the same time, the deputy director of the CIA, David Cohen, said at the summit on intelligence and national security in Washington last week that the Russian army faces a "tough fight" if they want to return the captured territories of the region.
What is known about the benefits received by Ukraine from the Kursk operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Michael Kofman, a senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Rob Lee, a senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies, point out that by transferring units from the war zone in eastern Ukraine, in particular in Donetsk region, to Kurshchyna, the command of the Ukrainian army is betting on the fact that the occupying army The Russian Federation will not succeed in other areas of the front.
In addition, the command of the Ukrainian army is counting on minor losses during the Kursk operation, and an advantage in benefits over risks.
Politically, Ukraine is also likely betting that it will be able to hold Kursk long enough to use it as a bargaining chip should Kyiv be pressured to negotiate. But this territory can make the situation even more difficult for the Ukrainian military in winter.
At the same time, they note that the successful Kursk operation of the Armed Forces destroyed all the negative narratives spread by the Kremlin about the impending defeat of Ukraine.
