What is the purpose of Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region?

The Armed Forces of Ukraine invaded Russia on August 6. What are Ukraine's goals of the attack? Why did it come as a surprise for Moscow? Pravda.Ru asked an expert opinion from military analyst and political scientist Dmitry Taran.

Photo: мультимедиа.минобороны.рф by Евгений Кель, CC BY 4.0

How would you characterise the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that invaded the Kursk region? What weapons do they have and how many fighters are there?

They are elite units that were kept in reserve and had not been used before. The story of this notorious counterattack is directly related to three events, three factors that now determine the state of affairs in the Ukrainian direction:

1. The victory of the Russian Armed Forces, the capture of settlements in the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region.
2. Ukrainians refuse to go to war in northwestern regions, particularly in Volyn. There are reports saying that they kill representatives of military recruitment offices, who recruit meat for the front on an industrial scale.
3. Zelensky supposedly bought a winery from Sting for seventy-something million euros.

All these events create certain tensions inside Ukraine, which is on the verge of an explosion. Reserve units were thrown into the Kursk direction. Those fighters have a wide variety of small arms, reconnaissance equipment and air defense systems.

The counteroffensive, the invasion of the Kursk region, does not play a strategic role. It is primarily a tactical and media move. They can not retreat, they will hold out to the bitter end to let everyone believe that Ukraine is still strong and winning.

In fact, the crisis in Kursk means that the Ukrainian regime is living its last days. The people of Ukraine are ready to speak out against the war, against the Ukrainian propaganda. The crisis in the Kursk region is largely connected with the need to outline at least some kind of "victory" against the backdrop of all the defeats that have occurred recently.

The front of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is bursting at the seams, the Russian troops are advancing. Do you think that one of the goals of the invasion of the Kursk region is to draw our reserves from other parts of the front?

Yes, of course. This is being done in order to ease the pressure of defeat and create the illusion of victory where supposedly no one expected anything. However, there are questions to the heads of municipalities and the governor. Why didn't they evacuate the locals? I mean from border villages that were living under the threat of attacks? There are questions to intelligence services too. They should have noticed the build-up of equipment and military personnel on the border with the Kursk region.

Do you think that Zelensky thus wants to be able to bargain with Russia at peace talks afterwards?

They talk about it, but there is a question about the legitimate authority in Ukraine. Lastly, the Americans and the Western coalition that stands behind Ukraine, are trying to create conditions for negotiations that would be beneficial to the Ukrainian side.

Ukraine is in an extremely unstable state. If the people of Ukraine rise up, Ukrainian soldiers will start deserting. They are in a great hurry there at the moment because Ukraine is in an extremely difficult situation from the economic, military and political point of view. It appears that they are trying to win something back before peace talks.

Zelensky has made camouflaged statements recently saying that Ukraine is tired of the war, that something needs to be done. Yet, the West has been supplying ton of weapons to Ukraine for a purpose. The West does not want to lose this bridgehead in the fight against Russia. Therefore, the goals of the special military operation have not changed for Russia, but the consequences that Ukraine is going to deal with are going to be catastrophic for Kyiv.

What could happen if the Ukrainian fighters capture or strike the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant?

I believe that the Kursk NPP topic is secondary as it is not that easy to cover 77 kilometers with heavy fighting along the way. They could have attacked the nuclear power plant differently if they wanted to. A landing operation could be an option. Yet, they could have struck the Zaporizhzhya NPP or arranged a provocation at other nuclear power plants just as successfully. I think that all the talking about the danger for the Kursk NPP is an attempt to create tensions, to add panic expectations. In fact, this cannot be taken seriously.

What forces do we have to defend the Kursk region?

I think that we will repel the attack under any scenario. Fortified areas in the Kursk region were prepared. One should give credit to American space intelligence, to British and Ukrainian intelligence that prepared this provocation. The Ukrainian troops entered the Kursk region in the places that were not prepared for defence from their point of view. I do not have official information from the Ministry of Defense about the resources that are currently being used to resolve the problem. I think it will all be over with in a few days.

I would like to say it once again: this is neither battle reconnaissance, nor a counteroffensive. This is solely a political and media special operation of elite units to create the illusion of victory in these August days and score additional political points for the Kyiv regime.

Was Russia prepared to meet the enemy? Or is this a tactical move of the Defence Ministry to trap most combat-ready units of the Ukrainian troops in order to grind them later?

I have no knowledge about plans and strategic goals of the General Staff, but I do not rule out your option. Perhaps there were some miscalculations in preparations. One should give credit to the Ukrainian units that took advantage of the intelligence power of the entire Western community and allowed for all possibilities. This is a lesson for us to learn.