Expert highlights strategic and tactical successes of Ukraine's Kursk operation

“The Kursk operation had tactical, operational, and strategic missions,” Zgurets said.

“[If we talk about] the strategic mission, it has already worked because, on one hand, we forced our partners to look differently at the fact that only their effective assistance can change the situation on the battlefield, as the Ukrainian army can conduct offensive actions. The strategic effect is also present, and it partially influenced the destabilization of the Russian environment. Although, I think, the effect here is minimal.”

The Defense Express expert also noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' retention of a part of Kursk Oblast forced Russia to redeploy about 50,000 reserve troops to this sector, which could have been deployed elsewhere—near Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, or Toretsk.

“On the tactical level, we know that there are losses of the enemy, there is an exchange fund that ensured the liberation of a significant number of our military from Russian captivity,” added Zgurets.

He also noted that Ukraine's political leadership plans to maintain a foothold in Kursk Oblast because it is part of the victory plan.

“How much this will play out in the future—we will see,” the Defense Express expert concluded.

“But from the perspective of the effects I mentioned, I believe this operation is fully justified.”

Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed for the first time on Aug. 12 that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had launched an operation in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

He emphasized that the operation, which began on Aug. 6, aimed to liberate Ukrainian border areas from Russian forces that had been regularly shelling Sumy Oblast.

Zelenskyy stated on Aug. 27 that Ukraine does not intend to occupy Russia’s Kursk Oblast; the operation in the region only hinders the Russians' plans to create a buffer zone on Ukrainian territory.

The Ukrainian president reported on Sept. 2 that the operation in Kursk Oblast was proceeding according to plan and fulfilling its tasks. On Sept. 6, he noted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine control 1,300 square kilometers in Kursk Oblast, where more than 100 settlements are located.

The DeepState monitoring group reported on Sept. 11 that Russian forces had launched an active assault in Kursk Oblast, attempting to attack Ukrainian forces from several directions.

Ukrainian forces, supported by drones and tanks, had breached a new section of the Russian border west of Ukrainian-controlled territory by Sept. 12. On Sept. 18, military commandant Oleksiy Dmytrashkovskyi confirmed that the Russian counteroffensive had been halted.

Forbes reported on Sept. 17 that the Armed Forces of Ukraine might have a new strategy in Kursk Oblast—to move quickly and encircle thousands of Russian military personnel.