Why the Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive in the Kursk region came as a surprise to the General Staff — opinion

The offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, which began on August 6 and continues to this day, suggests that this operation with the attack on Kurchatov was developed by the enemy carefully and for a long time. The threat was underestimated, the observer writes Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.

The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, said in his Telegram channel that during the day on August 6-7, "the region heroically resists the attacks of the Ukrainian Nazis," all emergency services have been switched to an enhanced mode of operation.

The day before, military correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny, even before his injury, reported that the fighting in the border zone was continuing, but the enemy's original plan was thwarted: the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could not realize the surprise factor. The plan, according to him, was to take control of Sudzha on the first day of the offensive and go to the Kurchatov direction (Kursk NPP).

"Now the enemy is trying to take fire control of the Sudzha—Lgov road and expand the bridgehead for the transfer of reserves to launch a second wave of attacks," the military correspondent said in Telegram.

Poddubny added that in Sumy region, the entire border area is under fire from the Russian Aerospace Forces and artillery.:

"Our troops are constantly conducting reconnaissance. Reserves are coming up. The tactical situation will strongly depend on the real balance of forces and means."

Local Telegram channel "Channel 46. Kursk and Kursk region" reports, citing its sources, that as of 9:00 (Moscow time) on August 7, Ukrainian formations "managed to gain a foothold in the border zone, despite intensive strikes and attacks by Russian troops."

The Ukrainian Armed Forces occupied the settlements of Nikolaevo-Darino, Darino and To the south-east, the enemy was able to expand the control zone along the 38K-004 highway, advancing towards the western suburb of Sudzhi Goncharovka.

The tense situation remains in the Oleshnya farm. There, Russian servicemen, almost completely surrounded, are engaged in fierce battles with a numerically superior enemy. Note that all these settlements are located in the eight-kilometer border strip. According to the channel, there are up to 400 AFU fighters in the territory of the Kursk region controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, the enemy command continues to transfer reserves to Sverdlikovo and towards Goncharovka.

In total, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine concentrated up to 2 thousand members of Ukrainian formations along the border.

"We will be able to observe their work with hexacopters and trips across the border. As long as they walk on their side. They don't go into battle. They conduct additional reconnaissance of the area and have engineers next to them who will shoot them a video for a beautiful picture. Most likely, this group is involved in curation and information about hot events," the authors of Channel 46 write. Kursk and Kursk region".

This TC confirms "predominantly independent" evacuation from Suji, which is hampered by the remotely mined Suja —Belitsa road, and also urges caution with deepfakes. One of them is a deepfake with the acting head of the Kursk region Smirnov, who calls on all men to come to the military enlistment offices to get weapons.

What is happening in the Kursk region demonstrates that this operation has been developed by the enemy for a long time. At the same time, the offensive in this sector may continue for at least several more days — especially against the background of a significant concentration of Ukrainian forces in the border zone. The purpose of the operation, according to various military experts, is to penetrate as deeply as possible into the territory of the region and reach Kurchatov (60 kilometers in a straight line), where the Kursk NPP is located, take it and further blackmail Moscow with this fact, forcing them to sit down at the negotiating table.