I don’t think there’s any strategic need to seize and hold Russian territory at this point. But the raids will tie up defensive forces and have an effect on Russian public morale.
So, a Doolittle Raid?
Or more like a British Commando raid. Hit them behind the lines where it can hurt them out of proportion of your invested resources, and force them to defend a much larger area, draining their resources.
I’ve been expecting a raid like that for awhile. There are obvious military targets like an Air Base or Supply Depot.
There have been reported attacks by Russian partisans. Apparently Russian security is lax areas where they don’t expect attacks by ground forces.
as per ISW:
Ukrainian forces have made confirmed advances up to 10 kilometers into Russia’s Kursk Oblast amid continued mechanized offensive operations on Russian territory on August 7. Geolocated footage published on August 6 and 7 shows that Ukrainian armored vehicles have advanced to positions along the 38K-030 route about 10 kilometers from the international border.[1] The current confirmed extent and location of Ukrainian advances in Kursk Oblast indicate that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defensive lines and a stronghold.[2] A Russian insider source claimed that Ukrainian forces have seized 45 square kilometers of territory within Kursk Oblast since they launched the operation on August 6, and other Russian sources reported that Ukrainian forces have captured 11 total settlement…
here some 40 russian POW / Surrendered at the checkpoint
And there might be some symbolic/psychological value to tweaking Russia’s tail in Kursk.
Russia is getting their butt kicked.
Why is the White House contacting Ukraine? They’re obviously disrupting the Russian summer offensive. It’s exactly why Russia attacked near Kharkiv. Pin down the troops.
Guardian live
It’s a diplomacy thing, designed to make the US look unconnected to the incursion into Russia.
Everyone knows why Ukraine is doing it, and everyone knows the US knows why. But the niceties must occasionally be observed.
The timing of the Ukraine attack coincides with the Russian Summer offensive. They identified a weakness in the Russian lines. Brilliant tactics.
I linked a Guardian article about the Summer Offensive.
I just learned that with this raid Ukraine succeeded in cutting the northern rail resupply route for Russia’s Kharkiv offensive. This will make resupply at least 50% more difficult. They’re going to have to re-route everything to the southeast now, further lengthening and taxing Russia’s already strained rail logistics capacity. This was a really smart raid accomplished with great economy of force.
Ah, a classic spoiling attack. Good on 'em.
Seizing the Sudzha gas distribution station is very important for Ukraine and Europe’s natural gas supply.
well, it will mostly depend on where the UKRs are - say a week from today … If they manage to dig their heels in there and create some sort of bridgehead … then yes …
if they just did a successful nuisance-atack and are behind their border in a week, then no permanent harm (to RU) was done … well, RU will still stock up on defense forces in the near future to not been cought with egg-on-face again.
anyway - fingers crossed!!!
Wouldn’t be surprised if Russia whipped out the tactical nukes if this incursion gains ground.
Putin will be in a position where he has little left to lose anyway
The Ukrainian forces involved in the Kursk raid I understand are not large in number and quite dispersed. Not a good target for even tactical nukes.
Moderating: This is still breaking-news and not speculation.
No more on the tactical nukes.
If you are responding to something in a thread that is basically off-topic or likely to lead to a hijack, try this:
How to Reply as a linked Topic:
Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, looks like a curving arrow point to the right.
Choose Reply as linked topic and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it.
That is actually the best method.
This topic was automatically opened after 11 minutes.
A lot more details of the Kurst offensive. Major black eye for Russia.
Yeah, I mean the surprise is understandable. I mean, who would ever think of attacking Russia at Kursk …oh wait…
