(MENAFN- Asia Times)
The Russians got caught with their pants down in Kursk. The Ukrainians pulled off a large-scale invasion using new tactics.
They advanced far into Russian territory, mostly unopposed, or countered only by some inexperienced territorial units. They did it with drone power but not any other air power, mostly because they don't have any (notwithstanding the symbolic F-16s based in Romania).
Russia has declared a
Federal Emergency
in the Kursk region.
This is written on the morning of Friday, August 9. The invasion started on the previous Tuesday, August 6.
While the Russians are now pounding the Ukrainians, the Russians are only just bringing up sufficient troops and special operators to try and crush the Ukrainian advance.
This too was pre-planned by the Ukrainians and their NATO backers. Ukrainian forces are digging in wherever they can, as the objective is to hold territory for as long as possible.
According to Rybar reporting on Telegram, Ukrainian forces consisting of the 82nd and 80th separate air assault brigades are leading the attacks, supported by the 22nd and 61st separate mechanized brigades of the AFU.
In addition, the 150th Motorized Rifle Brigade, 5th Air Assault Brigade, 151st Territorial Defense Battalion and 24th Mountain Assault Brigade are participating in a limited capacity.
The Russian side is still rather disorganized. Overall responsibility for Kursk and the northern area has changed hands a number of times in recent months, leaving confusion and lack of preparation in its wake.
The Russians are reportedly bringing up fresh forces (so far not named), including units known as“fire brigades.”
These are assault spetsnaz-type units that are well-trained and effective.
Everyone knows that sooner or later the Ukrainians, despite the addition of reserve troops, will be driven out of Russian territory. But that will take time, and“sooner” and“later” have special meaning in the context of the goals of the incursion, a topic I will return to below.
There is a lot of criticism in Russia for the lack of preparedness on the Russian side. There is no doubt that the Russian General Command had plenty of notice on Ukrainian preparations, but did nothing to counter it, or even to prepare to counter an invasion.
Part of the reason probably is the heavy focus on major gains, especially in Donbass, by Russian forces, leading to a number of breakthroughs that either have happened or are about to take place.
With that uber-command focus and the realization that Ukraine needed all the forces it could muster just to try and stop Russian advances, the top Russian military commanders did not think the Kursk preparations
were of much concern.
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov is in a lot of hot water. There have been two meetings of the Russian Security Council which Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over and where Gerasimov gave reports on the Kursk situation.
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