With the help of a CNN interview the Ukrainian Commander in Chief General Syrski is hoping to gain more support from western sources.
Exclusive: Ukraine army chief reveals the strategy behind Kursk incursion – CNN, Sept 5 2024
In his first television interview since becoming military chief in February, the general told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he believed the Kursk operation had been a success.
“It reduced the threat of an enemy offensive. We prevented them from acting. We moved the fighting to the enemy’s territory so that [the enemy] could feel what we feel every day,” Syrskyi said, in a rare interview that offered a candid assessment of the war.
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Speaking to Amanpour at an undisclosed location near the frontline, the general, who took over as army chief in February, said Moscow moved tens of thousands of troops to Kursk, including some of its best airborne assault troops.And while admitting that Ukraine was under immense pressure in the area around Pokrovsk, the strategic city that has for weeks been the epicenter of war in eastern Ukraine, Syrskyi said his troops have now managed to stall the Russian advances there.
“Over the last six days the enemy hasn’t advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working.” he said.
Maps as provided by the pro-Ukrainian LiveUAmap:
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I can identify at least three areas where the maps show differences in favor of the Russian side. Top to bottom:
- North and north-west of Niu York:
Pivnichek east of Toretsk has changed hands. The Russia line has moved in several place there to envelope Toretsk city and, a bit further south, Nelipivka.
- North of Selydove:
Novohrodivka which is no longer partially but now completely in Russian hands.
- East of Ukrainski:
There is a new Russian protrusion developing southward. A zoomed-in view shows that the hamlet of Halytsynivka with the crossing of the COS112 and COS1139 roads has come under Russian control. This cuts a supply route for the Ukrainian troops south-east of the protrusion.
These three+ minor ones are small movements that cover only some the 100 square kilometers Russian forces took last week. The previous three weeks had seen bigger ones. But they demonstrate that the Russian's haven't stopped in Pokrovsk but have – for one reason or another – halted major movements.
The reports of the Russian Ministry of Defense still note severe Ukrainian losses in the Prokrovsk region. There are no reports of any Russian troop movement from the Prokrovsk direction towards Kursk. A rotation of frontline units and local reserve forces is the most likely explanation for the current relative quietness on the frontline.
The Kursk incursion was a costly attempt to gain leverage. It failed to reach its hoped for targets further north and to cause the diversion of Russian troops from other front lines.
Syrski of course has to keep up the morale of his troops. He also has to (re-)gain more support from Ukraine's 'partners'. That explains his otherwise funny talk like this:
“We cannot fight in the same way as they do, so we must use, first of all, the most effective approach, use our forces and means with maximum use of terrain features, engineering structures and also, to use technical superiority,” he said, highlighting Ukraine’s advanced drone program and other home-grown high-tech weaponry.
Can someone point me to one Ukrainian or 'western' equipment item which is technically superior to the Russian produced equivalent? I fail to find one.