WASHINGTON, August 20. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military’s attack on the Kursk Region has not brought any significant results for Kiev except for attention from the Western media. In the meantime, it is unclear what aims Kiev was pursuing, expert George Beebe, a former director of the CIA's Russia analysis, said in a column on the Responsible Statecraft portal.
"While Kiev has succeeded in capturing headlines, it's unclear whether at this point what the mission will actually achieve," Beebe writes. He notes that Ukraine’s incursion initially "generated an impressive volume of optimistic takes on Western opinion pages and talk shows." However, "to shift the course of the war Ukraine's gambit must either divert significant numbers of Russian forces from the fighting in Ukraine itself, seize or destroy strategically important assets inside Russia, or hold territory over the longer term." The expert doubts that this is possible.
Russia has not moved large numbers of troops into the Kursk region and has commissioned reserves, Beebe points out. Kiev has failed to seize the Kursk nuclear power plant to strengthen its "bargaining power" in the negotiations. And "Russian air strikes on Ukrainian armor, troop concentrations, fuel depots, and supply lines prevented Ukraine from reinforcing its initial success in Kursk," the expert states. According to him, "Ukraine moved air defense assets toward the border with Russia, but this exposed their positions to devastating Russian strikes."
Ukraine will not be able to "hold captured territory," and "shifting the course of the war seems to be beyond its reach," Beebe concludes.
Ukraine’s massive attack on the Kursk Region began on August 6. The region is under a federal state of emergency and has repeatedly announced missile alerts. According to the Emergencies Ministry, more than 121,000 civilians have been evacuated from 9 border districts of the Kursk Region. Temporary accommodation centers for the residents of Kursk Region who were forced to leave their homes have been set up in 24 regions. About 10,000 are staying at the TACs.
The Russian Defense Ministry says Kiev has lost up to 3,800 troops and 54 tanks since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk Region. The operation to wipe out the Ukrainian incursion is continuing.