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According to Meduza, the Kremlin is trying to convince the Russians to accept Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk.
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Sources say it wants to delay the recapture of the region until a victory is achieved in eastern Ukraine.
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Ukraine surprised Russia on August 6 with a surprise attack on Kursk.
According to a report, the Kremlin is trying to indoctrinate Russians into accepting Ukraine’s military presence in the Kursk region as the “new norm.”
Unidentified Russian government sources close to the Russian presidential administration told an independent Russian newspaper Medusa that the Kremlin is using propaganda to convince the Russians to delay the recapture of the Kursk region until after an “inevitable” Ukrainian defeat in eastern Ukraine, a translation by the Institute for the Study of War.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region on August 6, Russian troops unprepared and grasping 386 miles of territory within a few days.
Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian armed forces 22 miles to the Russian region of Kursk.
Russia has struggled to respond quickly and effectively to the attack, partly because of its complex military structures and a lack of contingency plans.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported reported that a Russian general disbanded a group tasked with guarding the Kursk border a few months before the surprise Ukrainian invasion, citing an anonymous Russian security official, leaving the border region vulnerable.
To minimize the significance of the Ukrainian invasion, which has been underway for three weeks now, the Kremlin may be trying to weaponize Russian state media coverage of the months-long offensive in eastern Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War said.
Television channels are busy portraying the Russian advance around the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as a huge victory, while portraying the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk as a limited operation, the report said.
This could be a way for the Kremlin to buy some time and space before responding to the Ukrainian incursion, the report said.
In a update The ISW reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military command are likely to prioritize their offensive operations in eastern Ukraine, as they see it as a strategic priority to win the war of attrition against Ukraine.
But Ukraine says its troops in Kursk have been as much territory as Russia has this year, destroyed at least two bridges and strengthen their grip on the area.
As the invasion appears to be progressing, could easily backfire on Ukraine.
A Ukrainian commander told the Financial Times This week, Russian soldiers reported making advances in eastern Ukraine, partly because they diverted ammunition to military operations in Kursk, forcing his soldiers to ration their grenades.
But the biggest risk to Ukraine right now is manpower, said Matthew Savill, director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute.
If Ukrainian forces try to hold Kursk in the long term, they will expand the front line of the battle, he told Business Insider on Tuesday.
“This raises the stakes and may lead them to commit to a position beyond what is sustainable,” he said.
Read the original article at Company Insider
