Ukraine launched a surprise attack against Russia – and Putin was stressed

Ukraine opened this morning (first) in a surprise counter-attack on the territory of Russia itself, in the Kursk region, which led the President of Russia Vladimir Putin Urgently dispatch to the scene the Russian Deputy Minister of Defense, General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov one of Putin’s favorite commanders.

According to reports from Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian forces attacked from the city of Cherkasskoye Fortchnoi towards Berdin in Kursk Oblast, using mine-clearing mines to level their way towards Russian lines. In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it had managed to “defeat” the Ukrainian assault forces.

According to estimates from Ukraine and other media channels, about 11,000 soldiers from North Korea are stationed in the Kursk region in support of the Russian forces. Moscow, for its part, neither confirmed nor denied these reports.

the commentator Luke Harding who specializes in covering the war in Ukraine, wrote on his account on the X network (formerly Twitter) that the attack was intended to “take the reins again while Russia is taking over more and more territory in the Donetsk region in the east.”

Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Directorate, Andrei Yermak wrote on Telegram: “Kursk, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves.” At the same time, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, stated that “in Kursk, the Russians are very worried, because the attack came from several directions, and caught the Russians off guard.”

According to an analysis of James Kilner From the British newspaper The Telegraph, the timing of the attack is no accident. According to him, Zelensky is trying to strengthen his bargaining position ahead of the expected entry of Donald Trump into the White House on January 20, who may try to impose a peace settlement.

In recent months, the Russians have managed to regain control of more than half of the territory occupied by Ukraine in the Kursk region, while at the same time pushing Kiev’s forces along the main front in the eastern Donbass.