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According to Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies, Ukrainian forces initially had three main objectives when they broke through weak Russian defenses in the Kursk region and crossed the Russian border on August 6. However, at the moment they have only managed to implement one of them, as he noted in an article for Foreign Affairs.

One of Kyiv’s goals was to demonstrate to Ukraine’s international partners that the course of the war was not predetermined and that the Ukrainian army was capable of conducting successful offensive operations. The second goal was to divert the resources of Russian troops from the Donbass, as well as to use the retention of the Kursk region as a political bargaining chip in the event of negotiations.

Although Ukraine has largely achieved the first goal, the second has not been achieved, as Watling notes. The final result of the operation, he said, will depend on Ukraine’s ability to retain the occupied territories.

The expert also emphasizes that this operation in the Kursk region required the diversion of reserves of Ukrainian forces from Donbass, which makes it extremely risky. The retention of these territories remains in question, and it is not yet clear whether Kyiv will be able to maintain control over them.

Earlier, Kursor wrote that Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers stormed the positions of Russian marines in the Kursk region.

A reconnaissance unit of paratroopers stormed the enemy position, killing at least 18 soldiers.