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Ukraine’s attack on Kursk is “devastating for Putin’s regime,” Sweden’s foreign minister said.
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Tobias Billström added that the shock offensive shows how hollow the Russian war machine is.
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Sweden became NATO’s newest member when it joined the military alliance in March.
Ukraine invasion of Kursk has dealt a huge blow to Vladimir Putin the leadership of Russia, says Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
“The fact that this was possible in the first place is much more important than the actual territory on the ground,” Billström said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday.
“This is devastating for the Putin regime,” he added.
Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6. The shock offensive surprised the Russians and enabled the Ukrainians to make significant gains on the battlefield.
On August 12, Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said his troops nearly 400 square miles of Russian territory seized in just a few days. That is almost as much Ukrainian territory as Russia conquered this year.
Ukraine’s success in Kursk would be a psychological blow to the Russians, said Billström, whose country formally joined the NATO alliance in march.
“It shows the Russian people and the rest of the world that the Russian war machine is hollow,” Billström told the Financial Times.
While the US no call for regime change In Russia, Billström says his country hopes for an end to Putin’s rule over Russia.
“Anyone who looks at Russia today can see that with the current regime we all run the risk that the imperialist tendencies will continue, the imperialist plans towards the nearest neighbours, starting with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc.,” Billström added.
It is certainly true that Ukraine faces resistance from the Russians in Kursk.
While Russian soldiers initially to surrender en masse For the Ukrainians, Russia has since sent more experienced troops to suppress the invasion.
Last week, a Ukrainian commander with the call sign Cold The Wall Street Journal that Russia sends better-equipped soldiers to the region.
However, Billström still has confidence in Ukraine’s military capabilities.
“War is a risky business. There can certainly be setbacks, but no one can take away from Ukraine the fact that they were able to do this in the first place,” he told the Financial Times.
“And if they can do it once, maybe they can do it twice, or even a third time.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, which was sent outside regular business hours.
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