Summary and Key Points: Ukraine’s recent operations in the Kursk oblast have pushed the war into Russian territory, marking a significant escalation. Ukraine now holds 74 sites in a 45-mile-long pocket, utilizing advanced tactics and NATO-supplied weaponry.
-The White House and NATO allies have shown support, allowing Ukraine to intensify its efforts. Putin, facing unexpected pressure, has resorted to nuclear threats but lacks good options.
-The situation highlights Ukraine's need for a long-term defense strategy, including acquiring modern tanks to guard against future Russian aggression.
-Ukraine’s war against Russia is a stalemate no more. Putin did not see this coming. And NATO is content to let Ukraine take the war to Russia.
As the second week of Ukraine’s operation in Kursk oblast began, Ukraine claimed to hold 74 sites in a pocket about 45 miles long and 20 miles wide. Video clips showed Ukrainian tanks, modified with reactive armor, on the ground in Russia. U.S.-made Strykers were in action as Ukraine displayed new skills in combined-arms operations.
“It’s creating a real dilemma for Putin, and we’ve been in direct contact, constant contact, with the Ukrainians,” U.S. President Joe Biden said Aug. 13.
First and foremost, this is payback for more than 2,000 attacks launched by Russia into Ukraine from the Kursk region, according to Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy.
For now, Putin is downplaying the Kursk pocket as a skirmish, even as local Russian officials declare states of emergency in front of Ukraine’s advance. However, his........