The Ukrainian attack on Kursk is not a pleasant thing for the Russian leadership, Smith assessed in Monday evening’s A-studio.
12.8. 21:17•Updated 12.8. 22:08
Expert in international politics Hannah Smith considers Ukraine’s counteroffensive in southern Russia’s Kursk an embarrassment for the Russian leadership.
– Once again, they found out in the Kremlin that not everything goes according to the playbook, even if Russia wants it to.
Ukraine invaded the Kursk region on Tuesday of last week.
– In a way, they get a taste of their own medicine, and this is clearly not a pleasant thing, Smith said in Monday’s A-studio.
According to Smith, the president Vladimir Putin now has to weigh what measures should be taken when things don’t go the way he hoped.
Putin has said that conclusions will be drawn about the situation later, and has also vowed that Russia will respond to the attack on Ukraine.
of the governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov according to Ukraine has 28 residential areas. 121,000 have left their homes or evacuated to avoid the attack.
War expert Emil Kastehelmi told A-studio that he considers the Ukrainian counterattack to be successful, even though there have been challenges, for example, in taking over some smaller cities.
– As a whole, the initiative in the region is still with Ukraine, and the Russians have not had time and have not been able to stop the movement of the Ukrainians.
According to Kastehelmi, the outcome of the attack is still uncertain, and it is not yet clear whether the operation was successful and reasonable.
Watch Monday’s A-studio at Areena.