For 24 years in power, Putin has tried to portray himself as
the only one who can “guarantee the security and stability of the Russian
Federation.” However, this carefully cultivated image has faded since the
beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the armed rebellion by Wagner Group
leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall
concert venue in Moscow, according to AP.
Nigel Gould-Davies, an associate fellow at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies in London, believes that the elites in Russia
are currently in a state of “discontented consent,” but they fear starting a
power struggle because it is impossible to predict who would emerge victorious.
However, Eugene Rumer, a senior fellow and director of the
Eurasia and Russia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
suggests that Putin’s power is “unlikely to weaken as a result of this
humiliation” since all members of the political and military hierarchy of
Russian power are “accomplices in his war” and share “responsibility for this
disaster” with him.
As Ukraine intensifies its offensive in the Kursk region,
the Kremlin may struggle to ignore the numerous consequences of the
Ukraine-Russia war, AP writes.
The key question, according to Gould-Davies, is what will
happen if the Russian elite concludes that the war is “unwinnable or that it
will never end as long as Putin remains in power.”
Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk Oblast
On Aug. 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
confirmed for the first time the ongoing operation by the Defense Forces in
Kursk Oblast. He emphasized that the goal of the operation, which began on Aug.
6, is to liberate Ukraine’s border territories from Russian troops, who have
regularly shelled Sumy Oblast.
On Aug. 12, the authorities in Kursk Oblast acknowledged the
loss of 28 settlements. Among the settlements under AFU control is Sudzha,
where the last functioning Russian gas transshipment point through Ukraine to
Europe is located.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the occupiers have
deployed up to 5,000 soldiers to Kursk Oblast, while around 20,000 troops will
be needed for the counteroffensive.
On Aug. 20, AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated
that Ukraine controls 1,263 square kilometers and 93 settlements in Kursk
Oblast, Russia.