russian troops will launch a counteroffensive in the kursk region on putin's orders, but will face a "difficult struggle." According to Reuters, Deputy Director of the CIA David Cohen said this at the IntelSummit 24 conference on August 28, UNN reports.
Details
Speaking at a national security conference, Cohen said that the significance of Ukraine's incursion deep into russian territory remains to be seen.
He noted that although Kyiv has stated that it does not intend to annex the seized territory, Ukrainian troops are building defensive lines and appear to intend to hold part of the territory for a certain period of time.
We can be sure that putin will launch a counteroffensive to try to recapture this territory. We expect it to be a tough battle for the russians
He said that Putin would have to "deal with the reverberations in his own society" due to the loss of russian territory.
Recall
Ukrainian troops broke through russia's western border into the Kursk region on August 6 in a surprise offensive that continues to this day.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that the war with russia will eventually end in dialogue, but that Kyiv must take a strong position, and that he will present the plan to US President Joe Biden and his two potential successors.
putin has said that any agreement must start with Ukraine's acceptance of "realities on the ground" that would leave russia in possession of large parts of four Ukrainian regions, as well as Crimea. Ukraine now claims to control more than 1,200 square kilometers of russia's kursk region.