I don’t see Ukraine pushing further into Russia than now.
Looks like they are just taking the buffer and fortifying it/providing a need to massively re-distribute Russian troops/equipment.
I really presumed they would have left by now, but apparently not.
Their supply lines must be getting thin.
ARTICLE
Russians Baffled After Putin’s ‘Space Troops’ Deployed as Infantry in Kursk
Story by Isabel van Brugen
8-20-2024 5:42 a.m. EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-putin-kursk-ukraine-incursion-aerospace-forces-1941643
Russians have been left baffled after President Vladimir Putin deployed his so-called “space troops” to defend the Kursk region due to a manpower shortage amid a Ukrainian incursion.
The deployment of temporary motorized rifle of Russia’s Aerospace Forces to the Kursk region was first reported by independent investigative Russian outlet Important Stories.
[https://www.newsweek.com/russia-aerospace-forces-troops-kursk-incursion-1940995]
The unit, created between May and June, consists of personnel from security and logistics companies, engineers, mechanics, some officers, and servicemen from a Russian spaceport. There are also personnel from special warehouses of the Aerospace Forces and radar stations in Russia’s Voronezh region, who were previously in charge of manning Russia’s nuclear deterrent, the publication reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Newsweek
Everything We Know about Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive in Russia
The Fighterbomber Telegram channel, which has links to the Russian Aerospace Forces, appeared confused by the decision to deploy the unit to Kursk.
“I have no idea why they call themselves motorized riflemen, if there is no sign of any motorized rifles there,” the channel said, claiming that members of the regiment “beg other units for anything more serious than a Kalashnikov.”
“In essence, it is a rifle regiment,” the channel said.
Since Kyiv launched its surprise incursion on August 6 in Kursk, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy region, Ukrainian forces have seized control of 1,250 square kilometers (482 square miles) of Russian territory and 92 settlements in Kursk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
The scale of the offensive is significant—Ukraine is now reported to have seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. It also marks the first time that foreign troops have seized Russian territory since World War II.
Russia has also been scrambling to redeploy a portion its troops from the front line in Ukraine to the Kursk region as Zelensky’s men continue to swiftly seize territory. The Wall Street Journal on August 17 reported that some 5,000 personnel had already been redeployed from Ukraine to Kursk by August 13.
Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder of R.Politik: Reality of Russian Politics, a political analysis firm, said it is “now evident that Moscow doesn’t have an effective or swift military solution to this situation.
“Redirecting troops from the main front would mean falling into a well-laid trap,” Stanovaya wrote in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Announcing an urgent mobilization (and it’s not feasible to send new recruits straight into battle) would lead to a conflict with society. I’m not sure Putin is ready for that just yet. This implies that the Ukrainian presence in Russian border regions could persist for months, if not years, and eventually, people may become accustomed to it.”
The massive drone strike on Moscow, that was to show Russia as weak—failed. Now new forces are coming in without the need to pull back from Donbass offensive. The Ukraine attack will be gone by October First. Reminds me of General Hood’s attack on Nashville in the Civil War, that was to turn Sherman’s March to the Sea back. That resulted in the death of the Army of the Tennessee.