The well-planned Ukrainian military incursion into the Kursk region exposed the vulnerabilities of the Russian military, dealing a blow to the official narrative of a country spared from hostilities. On Tuesday, August 6, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers entered Russian soil without encountering major resistance.
In fact, the checkpoints set up on the Russian side along the 245 kilometres of border that the Kursk region shares with Ukraine were manned mainly by conscripts from the ranks of the border guards, dependent on the FSB, the Russian security service, who were poorly trained, and by lightly equipped army infantry units.
The Ukrainians made their breakthrough with disconcerting ease. “It wasn't very hardassures Stéphane Audrand, international risk consultant and reserve officer. Since the spring of 2022, the border in the north of Donbass has been quiet, except for a few small raids. So there were only two fairly simple lines of trenches, a few minefields and few men – a few hundred members of the FSB and the Russian National Guard. The area, a no man's land five to ten kilometres deep, was considered low risk by Moscow, and all eyes were on the Donbass, where the fighting has been concentrated for months.
According to the military expert, the Ukrainian forces entered all the more easily because their enemy had started to clear the area of mines with a view to launching an offensive. “For some time now, the Russians have been quietly preparing an attack on Sumy from the border area. Mine clearance had begun, but they had not massed troops.” Warned by drones and radars, the Ukrainians would have seen it “an opportunity effect” and decided to “preempt the attack” by setting off first, Mr. Audrand continued. “It's clever, they have regained the initiative, whereas since November 2023, Russia has been imposing its tempo.”
The surprise effect was all the greater because Moscow was convinced that the Ukrainians were not capable of attacking and that they were focusing on Donbass and Crimea. However, a few weeks before the incursion, kyiv had massed thousands of soldiers in the Sumy region. How come these movements did not attract the attention of Russian intelligence? “I can't believe that[ils] did not know »General Andrei Gurouliev, deputy chairman of the defense committee of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, told the online media on Monday, August 12 Svobodnaya Pressa.
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Source: Lemonde
