Ukraine hid Kursk plans from the West until its troops attacked, Bloomberg
Date: 2024-08-15 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
Ukraine kept its plans for an invasion of Russia a secret from the West until its troops struck.
According to Bloomberg, citing a Western intelligence source, Ukraine's Western allies did not know the details of its offensive in the Kursk region until it was in full swing.
The Ukrainians launched a ground invasion of Russia on August 6. The attack is shrouded in a thick fog of war that has also affected Ukraine's Western partners.
The information came through Russian officials, Russian military bloggers, and social media posts, few of which can be independently verified. The Ukrainians have officially made isolated statements without specifics. But the picture that emerges is of a carefully planned operation on a large scale.
Ukraine was considering several ideas, including a strike on Kursk, according to an unnamed Western official familiar with the plan. Allies were reacting to the raid after the fact, when it was in full swing.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States would ask Ukraine to learn more about its strategic goals and intentions. So far, Ukraine has already provided the United States with some information.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that his forces control 74 settlements in the region, and Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Ukraine holds about 600 square kilometers of territory.
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Kursk and Ukraine, declared a state of emergency.
Ukraine's NATO allies have largely remained silent on the attack, with the exception of the European Commission saying last week that Ukraine has a "legitimate right" to operate on Russian territory.
Ukraine has a keen interest in portraying its actions in Kursk – and its decision-making elsewhere on the battlefield – as independent of its Western sponsors. President Vladimir Putin insisted on Monday that the attack was “Western.”
“The enemy, with the help of its Western masters, is carrying out their orders, and the West is waging a war against us using Ukrainians,” the dictator said.
It’s a familiar line – Putin and his allies have long sought to portray Ukraine’s support as a proxy. Western countries say that while they are providing support, Ukraine is waging a war on its own.
