-
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed Ukraine’s invasion and capture of Russian territory.
-
He said it didn’t really matter because Russia’s main aim is advancing in eastern Ukraine.
-
Putin has sought to downplay the attack on Kursk, the first foreign incursion into Russia since WWII.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to downplay the importance of Ukraine seizing hundreds of square miles of Russian territory, claiming it didn’t divert Russia from its mission.
“The enemy’s goal was to make us nervous and worry and to transfer troops from one sector to another and to stop our offensive in key areas, primarily in the Donbas,” Putin said at a forum in Vladivostok Thursday, as reported by Reuters. “Did it work? No.”
The Donbas is the eastern region of Ukraine that is the main front line of Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine’s attack on August 6, on the Russian border region of Kursk, took Russia’s military commanders by surprise.
Ukraine’s troops advanced deep into Russian territory and took hundreds of prisoners.
A month later, Ukraine’s troops still occupy the territory which comprises around 386 square miles.
Having been caught on the back foot, Kremlin leaders are now trying to portray the incursion as a mistake by Ukraine.
“By transferring rather large and well-trained units to these border areas with us, the enemy weakened itself in key areas, and our troops accelerated offensive operations,” Putin said.
Ukraine has argued the opposite, saying that it was Russia that was forced to redirect its best troops.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, on Thursday said Russia had indeed diverted some units to defend Kursk, but mostly relied on volunteer units.
Analysts say that Ukraine is likely hoping to use the territory it seized in Russia as a bargaining chip in potential negotiations.
However, the aim of diverting significant Russian forces from east Ukraine appears to have failed. In recent weeks Russia has made advances in east Ukraine, and is bearing down on the strategically important town of Pokrovsk.
Will Kingston-Cox, a Russia expert at the International Team for the Study of Security (ITSS) Verona, told France 24 that the Kursk offensive had been “strategically misguided”, describing the operation as a “symbolic” rather than truly game-changing.
The Kursk offensive did hand Ukraine initiative in the war after months of being on the defensive, the ISW said, forcing Russia to choose between ousting Ukraine from its territory or making grinding progress in east Ukraine.
It also dealt a humiliating blow to Putin’s image as a strongman defender of Russia.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News this week that the incursion was part of a plan by Ukraine to win the war, and that it intends to hold the territory.
Read the original article on Business Insider
