A week into Ukraine’s surprise cross-border incursion into Russia, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Moscow does not have the situation under control.
Tens of thousands of Russians have been forced to flee their homes as Ukrainian troops continued to encroach onto Russian territory over the weekend and on Monday.
The incursion – the first time foreign troops entered Russian territory since World War II – is a major embarrassment for the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to “kick the enemy out” or Russia, but his troops are yet to stop the Ukrainian advance.
Here’s what we know.
What happened?
The first reports of Ukrainian troops crossing into Russia’s Kurs region, just north of the Ukrainian border, started to emerge late last Tuesday. But it wasn’t until several days later that Kyiv officially acknowledged its military was operating inside Russia.
The incursion marked a notable change of tactics from Kyiv. The Ukrainian military has in the past regularly attacked targets inside Russia with drones and missiles, and there have been limited cross-border attacks by Ukraine-aligned Russian saboteurs, but until last week it had not launched any official ground incursions across the border.
By Monday, Kyiv claimed to have control over some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory. In terms of its size, it’s similar to the amount of Ukrainian land Russia managed to seize so far this year, estimated by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) at 1,175 square kilometers (453 square miles).
Still, the area is dwarfed by the more than 100,000 square kilometers, or 18% of Ukraine’s total territory, taken by Russia since the conflict started in 2014.
Why is Kyiv doing this?
The objective of the incursion remains a mystery.
Kyiv is likely trying to achieve several goals: reclaim the initiative and boost the morale of its soldiers while diverting Russia’s attention and embarrassing Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said over the weekend that the incursion was a way to put “pressure on the aggressor.”
Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into the Russian border region of Kursk on August 6, 2024, capturing over two dozen towns and villages in the most significant cross-border attack on Russian soil since World War II. Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrsky told President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video posted on August 12, 2024 that his troops now control about 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory and are continuing “offensive operations”. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP) (Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images)
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On Monday, he added that it was “only fair” and beneficial to destroy the Russian positions that are used to launch strikes against Ukraine, saying thousands have been launched from the Kursk region since the beginning of June.
CNN
