Ukraine Faces a Dilemma After Success in Kursk Offensive - Wall Street Journal

After the rapid success of the Kursk breakthrough, Ukraine is facing a dilemma as to how to proceed, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces are losing to the Russians in terms of weapons and numbers in most parts of the front, UNN reports with reference to the article by The Wall Street Journal.

Ukraine's surprise invasion of Russia's Kursk region quickly absorbed the territory, embarrassing Russian President Vladimir Putin and boosting Ukrainian morale after a year of war spent largely in bloody defensive battles.

"The dilemma for Ukraine's leadership is whether the desire for further gains is worth the cost of significantly more troops and military equipment, which are desperately needed on the eastern front in Ukraine, where Kyiv's forces are trying to hold back Russia's offensive," the article says.

The media notes that in just a few days, Ukraine has advanced at least 20 miles from the border, demonstrating to its enemies, its own citizens, and its allies that it is still fighting and can deliver devastating surprises to its larger neighbor.

In his first comment on the invasion on Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the operation "our actions to transfer the war to the aggressor's territory.

Ukraine, he said, "guarantees exactly the pressure that is needed: pressure on the aggressor.

This operation is a high-stakes move, given Ukraine's lack of manpower and military equipment on the eastern front, where Russia is advancing, the newspaper notes.

"The ultimate goal of the Kursk operation remains unclear. Ukraine has given restrained commentary, but early successes are visible in videos circulating online of Ukrainian troops raising their flag in several towns and villages near the border, clips of smoldering Russian military equipment, and often angry posts by Russian nationalist bloggers about the war close to the military," the article says.

Russian reports indicate that Ukraine's rapid advance was achieved through the use of electronic warfare to disable Russian communications equipment and to help Ukrainian troops loot Russian territory in fast-moving armored vehicles supported by attack drones and air defense systems.

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Russian officials have repeatedly said they are pushing Ukrainian forces back from the border zone, but on Sunday the Russian Defense Ministry admitted that it had been striking Ukrainian units in villages about 20 miles inside Russia.

"It's a blow to Putin," said a Ukrainian officer who fought in the eastern area of Chasovyi Yar. "Of course, I like to see that we hit their convoy. If this continues for several days, I will say it was very useful.

The current U.S. assessment is that one of Ukraine's reasons for launching the invasion was to interrupt Russian supply lines to the northern front in Kharkiv, where Moscow forces launched their own invasion in May, a U.S. official said. Ukraine has taken dozens of prisoners that it can exchange for its detainees in Russia.

"In addition to tactical military victories, Ukraine has shown that it has the courage and ability to covertly plan and launch a complex offensive. After a failed counteroffensive last summer, Ukraine spent a year in a brutal trench warfare against a brutal Russian offensive that raised questions at home and abroad about how Ukraine could contain its larger neighbor," the paper adds.

"With this attack, they completely changed the strategic narrative," said John Nagle, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is now a professor of warfare at the U.S. Army War College.

Nagle said he found the military logic of the operation questionable, given the enormous pressure on Ukraine's own defense lines elsewhere. He said Ukraine may be focused on sending a message to the United States, its most important backer, ahead of the November presidential election.

The next stage of the invasion of Kursk depends on what reserves each side has and how it will deploy them, said Franz-Stephan Gadi, a military analyst based in Vienna.

"Ukraine will need to deploy additional manpower and military resources to maintain momentum, while Russia will want to counterattack quickly and use its superior firepower, including powerful glide bombs, if a permanent front line develops," the article says.

The main problem with the operation, according to Gadi, is that it does not change the fundamentals on the front line in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are advancing, albeit slowly, against Ukrainian forces that are outgunned and outnumbered.

"The operation in Kursk requires significant resources, especially in infantry personnel who may be more urgently needed elsewhere," he said.

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