Ukraine marks the 6-month anniversary of its Kursk incursion – POLITICO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists the incursion has been a success, and has hinted that Ukraine’s continued control of Russian territory might give Kyiv leverage in any peace negotiations with Moscow.

“In the Kursk region, we are holding stable,” he told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. “The Russians have suffered great losses there. Their Koreans are running away. I think they will not be able to push us out of this territory soon. And it is like a magnet holding 60,000 troops out of Ukraine.”

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But there are also voices of caution about the operation.

Mykola Bielieskov, a research fellow at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies, said the rationale for the incursion had been more political than military. The United States had previously warned Kyiv against taking aggressive actions toward Russia, which explains why the offensive was kept secret from Washington.

“It was sort of, ‘See, we can do this despite all the problems. If you support us more, the situation will change,’” he said. “Unfortunately, the victory plan did not succeed … well, things happen. If you do nothing you won’t make mistakes — and we didn’t have that luxury.”

“Now we are simply taking defensive action, inflicting maximum damage while the Russians and the [North Korean] troops try to regain control over the territories of the Russian Federation, because this is already a political priority for them,” the analyst added.