"Not publicly": Allies knew about Ukraine's operation in Kursk region - The Independent
Date: 2024-08-16 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
A surprise attack by Ukraine on the Kursk region of Russia is the only way to force dictator Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as part of the "psychological" tactics of winning the war.
Adviser to the head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podolyak commented on this in a comment to The Independent. In its most successful move in the two-and-a-half-year conflict, Kyiv seized more Russian land in a week than Moscow seized in Ukraine in a whole year.
Ukrainian forces are steadily advancing across the border into the Kursk region, capturing towns and villages and forcing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Russians to flee their homes. Podolyak said the invasion had shown Russians the harsh realities of Putin's war.
"We need to use absolutely clear instruments to force Russia to negotiate. One of them is the military instrument of coercion. That is, we need to inflict tangible tactical defeats on Russia, in addition to economic and diplomatic means. In the Kursk region, we see the optimization of this military instrument of coercion to force Russia to negotiate," Podolyak said.
Almost 200,000 Russians in Kursk and the neighboring Belgorod region, where a state of emergency has been declared, have been forced to leave their homes and move to temporary shelters.
Ukrainian troops have captured Russian soldiers to use them as bargaining chips to exchange their civilians and military. One Ukrainian colonel told The Independent that about 2,000 Russian soldiers were captured.
Podolyak is the first Ukrainian official to officially speak about Ukraine's motivations behind the invasion of the Kursk region.
"There must be a complex, a multitude of instruments to force Russia to stop this war. One invasion will not be enough for Putin to understand that the war is not worth it. Russians do not discuss war, and they generally feel quite comfortable, because somewhere there is a war, someone is killing. They are interested in watching it on TV. But when the war enters Russian territory, they are, of course, afraid. They are shocked. This significantly affects the psychological state of Russia. This is also an instrument of influence," he said.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky claims that they have occupied more than 600 square kilometers of Russian territory, the military has taken control of 80 settlements in the Kursk region and is advancing further into the region.
The invasion caught Putin off guard. Meetings on the operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region are secret. Putin stops any public talk about it. At a recent meeting, Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov began to describe the extent of Ukraine's control over the territory, but the dictator abruptly interrupted him, demanding that he focus on the "socio-economic situation."
Russian civilians will feel the war for the first time. The Russians are dropping glide bombs on their homes to stop the Ukrainian advance. Ukrainians, whose homes have been regularly hit by missiles and Russian bombs, are enjoying the sudden revenge.
But Russia continues to bomb civilians in Ukraine's Sumy region, which borders Kursk. Kyiv is forced to blockade the region for fear that Russian saboteurs could infiltrate and try to disrupt the invasion.
Did the Allies Know?
Ukraine's key Western allies, including Britain and the US, say they were not informed of the attack before it happened, but Podolyak suggested that was not the case.
"There are certain things that need to be done with the element of surprise, and that needs to happen at a local level. But there have been discussions between partner forces, just not at a public level," Podolyak said.
One point of contention between Ukraine and NATO is the use of long-range warfare, which is banned for offensive operations against Russia. Podolyak said Ukraine was deeply frustrated that it could not use long-range missiles like Britain's Storm Shadow deep inside Russia.
During a visit to Downing Street in Sir Keir Starmer's first week as prime minister, Zelensky asked for permission to strike deeper into Russia, but was refused.
"I cannot understand the parameters of this discussion. Ukraine needs to either hit the target from which missiles and artillery strikes are launched, or be able to defend itself from the ground with anti-aircraft weapons, which we cannot do because we do not have enough of them. This solution does not make sense. When weapons are transferred to Ukraine, this should be our responsibility. We have all this talk about international law, but it is our own choice how we spend these resources," Podolyak said. He added: "I am sure that if the informal ban on the use of long-range weapons were lifted, the landscape of war would look much different. Russia would understand that the cost of war is too high."
