The strategy and tactics Ukraine is showing in the course of its cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region were developed with NATO, former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Stephen Bryen has speculated.
The Kiev regime’s gamble is “a test case for the defense of Europe in case of a Russian attack,” claimed the expert on security strategy and technology in his Weapons and Strategy Substack.
“NATO, in its present configuration, is in a bad place when it comes to defending territory. If fighting were to break out in Poland, or Romania, or north in the Baltics, the Russians would have a significant advantage in ground forces. One way to counter that would be exactly the kind of operation Ukraine is testing right now in the Kursk region,” wrote Bryen.
According to the expert, one could imagine “a similar vector in a broader European conflict.”
Weighing in on the possible goals of the Kiev regime’s operation, Bryen noted that Ukraine’s ability to withstand relentless attacks by Russian forces on the front line were “at a dead end.”
“On a daily basis, Ukraine has been losing around 1,000 troops (killed and wounded) and morale in some brigades has likely gone to near zero. The losses, even though Ukraine does its best to cover them up, pervade society,” he wrote. Furthermore, amid drastic manpower shortages, there is "resistance building up among Ukraine’s population" in the face of new draconian draft laws. There are fears that “newly-recruited troops will be thrown into combat as 'meat' brigades and slaughtered,” noted the author.
While Ukraine’s no longer legitimate Zelensky is under growing Western pressure to negotiate with Russia, he probably stakes on using the Kursk operation as some sort of leverage for the inevitable talks with Russia.
While the operation is military, the hoped-for outcome is political. There is no doubt it is a big gamble," the security strategy expert concluded.
Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border offensive on August 6 in an attempt to seize territory in Russia’s Kursk region. A counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime was declared starting August 9 in Russia’s Kursk region due to the increased level of sabotage and terrorist threats from Ukraine. Russia’s Armed Forces are continuing to repel the attempted invasion of Russian territory by Ukrainian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of launching a large-scale provocation, adding that Ukrainian troops had shelled Russian regions indiscriminately, firing at civilian infrastructure and ambulances.
Russia's commissioner for human rights, Tatyana Moskalkova appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with a demand to condemn the terrorism on the part of Ukraine and take measures to prevent gross mass violations of human rights.