Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his generals have an artful knack for keeping the Russian military bear off-balance. On Sunday, they renewed their offensive in the Russian Kursk Oblast, once again catching the Russian high command, Kremlin, and many pundits by surprise. Reports of a demoralized Ukrainian army fighting to retain terrain captured during the August Kursk offensive — of which at least 40 percent has been lost — have circulated among western media and Russian milbloggers since November. So too reports that Ukraine’s 155th Mechanized Brigade — trained and equipped by France — was under-resourced in “first person view...

Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Alexander Khinshtein acting governor of southern Kursk region on Thursday, saying "crisis management" was needed in the area, which has been partly occupied by Ukrainian forces since August. Putin was shown in a clip posted on the Kremlin website offering the post to Khinshtein, a journalist and veteran member of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. "I would like to offer you the position of acting governor of Kursk region, as at this time crisis management is needed there, in view of the situation occurring there," Putin told Khinstein.