AFU are tying down nearly 100,000 enemy troops in the Kursk oblast: A military expert explained the rationale behind the operation
Ukrainian forces will most likely have to withdraw from the Kursk oblast or reduce this bridgehead in the near future. This was stated to OstroV by Pavlo Lakiychuk, head of security programs at the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI" and a retired captain of the first rank of the Ukrainian Navy.
"To understand the logic of events (in the Kursk oblast), we need to go back several months to when this operation began. At that time, our military leadership said that the main goal of the Kursk operation was to tie down and divert enemy reserves. Was this objective achieved? Yes. Initially, there were about 20,000 russian troops in the Kursk oblast, then 40,000, later 60,000, then 80,000. Now they talk about nearly 100,000, including rear units, and this force includes marines and airborne units. In other words, we are talking about elite and highly trained troops", - he said.
According to him, the essence of the fight in the Kursk oblast is to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, as there is no military sense in holding specific settlements there.
"From this perspective, the operation remains successful as long as we inflict more losses on the enemy than we expend in efforts. If this ratio changes and the costs of the operation exceed the gains, then, obviously, it should be scaled down", - Pavlo Lakiychuk noted.
He emphasized that russia's plan is to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of the Kursk oblast and then use the freed-up troops in another section of the front. This could mean increasing pressure in the Donetsk oblast or further north (Kupiansk, Lyman).
At the same time, the military expert believes that the better course of action would be to reduce the area of this bridgehead to strengthen the defenses.
As previously reported, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, noted that the situation on the border of the Sumy oblast with the Kursk oblast in russia remains under the control of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.