The Ukrainian president will present “a plan for victory” when he meets the US president in September. The invasion of the Russian province of Kursk is part of that plan. That was said by Volodymyr Zelenskyj during a press conference in Kyiv last Tuesday. news’s correspondent was also present. Apart from the fact that the plan also includes diplomacy and the economy, Zelenskyj did not want to say anything in particular about what it entails. But he called the attack on Kursk “a defensive operation” to prevent Russia from occupying large parts of Ukraine. Zelenskyj specifically mentioned the border regions of Sumy and Chernihiv. Ukrainian soldiers back in the Ukrainian Sumy region after a mission inside Kursk in Russia. 14 August. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP Far beyond Ukraine’s borders, journalists and experts are still debating what President Zelenskyj can actually achieve by occupying a slice of Russia. It is both about what Zelenskyj wants, and about how Putin can prevent him from getting what he wants. It can be summarized in five points. Has the war on the table again Head teacher at the War School, lieutenant colonel Palle Ydstebø, is full-time occupied by the war in Ukraine. – The most important thing was to get Ukraine out of the international deadlock with Gaza and the American election campaign as dominant. Get the war thrown back on the table, says Ydstebø. He believes Zelenskyy has succeeded in doing just that. The spectacular surprise attack humiliated President Putin. Now “everyone” is talking about Kursk. The President of Russia cannot do anything about that. But it is unclear what that attention can be “switched” into. When the positive effect of surprise has subsided, it is not certain that Ukraine’s position in the “negotiations” for more weapons from the West is noticeably stronger. Lieutenant Colonel Palle Ydstebø is the head teacher at the War School. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Russia is unable to throw them out quickly Ydstebø believes that the most important thing from a military point of view is that the Ukrainians have established a buffer zone on the Russian side of the border. Now they must be able to keep what they have taken. Ydstebø does not believe that Putin will be able to throw them out before winter. – The Russians must have at least three times as many soldiers to be able to drive Ukrainian forces out of Kursk. Then they must increase to 30-40,000 men, and there must be forces that are as good as the Ukrainians. They can’t do that now, says the lieutenant colonel. A building on fire after a Ukrainian attack in the city of Korenevo in the Kursk region. The picture is from a video distributed on 29 August. Photo: “Black Swan” unit of the 225 Seperate Assault Battalion / Reuters Zelenskyj: Putin’s red lines a hoax – Kursk shows that Putin’s red lines are a hoax, stated President Volodymyr Zelenskyj two weeks after the invasion. He used the absence of a tough counteroffensive as an argument that the West must show greater courage. – The world sees that everything in this war depends only on courage – our courage, the courage of our partners. On courageous decisions for Ukraine, on courage in supporting Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a welcoming ceremony at the White House before the NATO summit in Washington DC on July 11. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB But the deputy chief of the American intelligence organization CIA is convinced that the Russian response in Kursk is coming. – We can be sure that Putin will launch a counter-offensive to try to take back the territory, David Cohen said on Wednesday. But for the time being, we can count on Ukrainian soldiers to remain in Kursk. Russia continues as before in Donetsk Ukraine’s defense chief Oleksandr Syrskyj was most concerned with weakening Russia’s striking power in Ukraine when he was asked by CNN. – Another of the goals of the invasion in Kursk is to pressure Russia to transfer soldiers from front sections inside Ukraine. It is particularly important to weaken the Russian offensive against the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, Syrskyj said. But so far there is no indication that Russia is using larger forces from there in Kursk. A Russian rocket hit a hotel in Kramatorsk in Donetsk. The man is cleaning up. August 25. Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters The core of the defense of Kursk will be a newly created home defense force, “BARS Kursk”. It will consist of volunteers on six-month contracts. They receive the necessary training and weapons, Governor Aleksey Smirnov wrote on Telegram on Thursday. BARS Kursk will also contribute to the humanitarian aid work in the border areas. In addition, elements of regular forces are in place in Kursk. But Syrskyj’s wish for the Russian presence in Ukraine to be significantly weakened appears to be a somewhat distant hope. Read more: No direct negotiations in sight President Zelenskyj’s adviser Mykhajlo Podoljak had another version of the goal of the Kursk invasion. – In the Kursk region, we clearly see how the military tool is being used to force (Russia) into a fair negotiation process, Podoljak wrote on X. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj repeated at the press conference this week that it is out of the question to give up areas in order to end the war. But there is nothing to suggest that the Russian leadership will allow itself to be pressured into negotiating to return conquered Ukrainian territory. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday. Photo: EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / AFP – Ukraine’s actions in Kursk have made negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the conflict out of the question, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. The leadership in the Kremlin was probably shocked when Ukrainian soldiers entered and occupied parts of Kursk. But it has added up. Putin calls it an “anti-terrorist operation” and has put the FSB security police in charge of handling it. Neither side will give up territory. And apart from a small sliver of Russia, it is Ukrainian land. There, Russia continues to advance, albeit slowly. Published 01.09.2024, at 14.05
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What does Ukraine want with Kursk? – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
