Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists the incursion has been successful, and has hinted that Ukraine’s continued management of Russian territory may give Kyiv leverage in any peace negotiations with Moscow.
“Within the Kursk area, we’re holding steady,” he advised reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. “The Russians have suffered nice losses there. Their Koreans are working away. I feel they will be unable to push us out of this territory quickly. And it is sort of a magnet holding 60,000 troops out of Ukraine.”
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However there are additionally voices of warning in regards to the operation.
Mykola Bielieskov, a analysis fellow on the Ukrainian Nationwide Institute for Strategic Research, stated the rationale for the incursion had been extra political than navy. America had beforehand warned Kyiv towards taking aggressive actions towards Russia, which explains why the offensive was saved secret from Washington.
“It was kind of, ‘See, we will do that regardless of all the issues. In case you help us extra, the state of affairs will change,’” he stated. “Sadly, the victory plan didn’t succeed … properly, issues occur. In case you do nothing you gained’t make errors — and we didn’t have that luxurious.”
“Now we’re merely taking defensive motion, inflicting most harm whereas the Russians and the [North Korean] troops attempt to regain management over the territories of the Russian Federation, as a result of that is already a political precedence for them,” the analyst added.
