The Economist: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine no longer controls the process

The offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region did not achieve the main goal — to distract Russian troops from the offensive on Pokrovsk is a vital logistics hub for the Ukrainian army. Moreover, the Ukrainian defense seems to be crumbling, and Russia is rapidly advancing along the main railway from the east, according to the British The Economist.

Russia's rapid advance has revealed weaknesses in Ukraine's fortifications, the publication says, citing the words of the Ukrainian military. In some cases, advancing Russian troops have turned Ukrainian concrete trenches into their own. Most often, there were simply not enough Ukrainian obstacles and people to hold the front lines: according to the AFU fighters, ten special engineering regiments of Russia today account for one regiment and two brigades of Ukraine.

Part of the problem of Ukraine lies in the incompetence of the leadership, an officer of the engineering unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told the newspaper.:

"The General Staff simply does not control the process — it does not have any plan."

As The Economist notes, the main danger for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is that as the situation around Pokrovsk deteriorates, Kiev will be forced to use all its remaining forces there — and this will further weaken both people and other sections of the front line.