LONDON, August 7. /TASS/. The reason for Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kursk Region is hard to understand at a time when Kiev’s limited forces are struggling on the battlefield, an analyst told the Financial Times.

"Given defensive pressures elsewhere <...> the strategic rationale for this operation at this time is difficult to fathom," said Mick Ryan, a retired Australian army major general.

He suggested Ukraine could be using the attack to divert attention from the progress of Russian troops in Donbass.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Ukraine’s incursion will not have a significant impact on the course of the conflict.

"A limited operation might be able to achieve limited goals, but a more ambitious operation carries greater risks," he said.

Ukrainian forces started a massive attack on the Kursk Region on August 6. Missile attack alerts have been often issued in the region since then. Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the operation on the border in the Kursk Region will end by defeating Ukrainian forces and regaining control of the Russian border.