Ukraine
For the first time in the Ukraine-Russia war that has been going on for the last two and a half years, Ukraine seems to have the upper hand. The Ukrainian army is continuously advancing in the Kursk region of Russia adjacent to the eastern border. Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Sirsky has said that his troops have so far captured 74 settlements in the Kursk region. Apart from this, in the last 24 hours, another 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of area has been gained control. Ukraine has earlier claimed to have captured 1000 KM of Russian territory. Now Ukraine has attacked the southern regions of Russia with drones and missiles overnight to further its infiltration into Russian territory. Meanwhile, Russia said on Wednesday morning that it had destroyed 117 Ukrainian drones and several missiles overnight, most of which were coming in the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Let us tell you that on August 6 at 5:30 am local time, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border and started an offensive in the Kursk region and captured several villages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said his troops were advancing in Kursk and had ordered his military generals to capture the next key targets in the operation. Kiev claims it controls at least 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of Russian territory. Moscow, on the other hand, denies this and insists the actual area under Ukrainian occupation is about half that.
What is Putin’s dilemma?
However, it is also clear that Ukraine’s military dominance in the Kursk region has forced about 200,000 people to flee from the border areas, and has also raised a new alarm of danger for Russia. The governor of the Belgorod region on Wednesday declared a state of emergency, blaming the continuous bombing by Ukraine. On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin is stuck in a huge dilemma. He does not understand whether he should first defend his territory or attack further in Ukraine. The big thing is that in recent months, Russia has carried out more than two thousand attacks on Ukraine from the Kursk region itself with anti-aircraft missiles, cannons, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles.
If Putin decides to defend the Kursk region, he will have to deploy troops on a large scale and call back the troops stationed in Ukraine for this task. This will end his strategic advantage in Ukraine. If he does not do this, Ukraine can strategically move further into Kursk. Ukrainian President Zelensky is moving ahead with this strategy. Meanwhile, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel has clarified that the US is not involved in any aspect of Ukraine’s military operation in the Kursk region.
Why remember the Second World War?
An Al Jazeera report said that some experts believe that Ukraine’s attack on Russia is reminiscent of World War II because since then no foreign army has attacked Russia on such a large scale. According to experts, Ukraine’s attack can change the direction and condition of this war. US President Joe Biden also said on Tuesday that Ukraine has created a big dilemma for Vladimir Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that Ukraine has carried out large-scale provocations and fired indiscriminately at civilian targets. At the same time, the acting governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov said on Monday that 12 civilians were killed and 121 others were injured in the attack, including 10 children. A US official has also confirmed that Ukraine’s attack on Kursk has been done to force the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine. Let us tell you that till February, more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed in the Ukraine-Russia war. Schools, hospitals and other key infrastructure have also been destroyed in the Russian attack.