Associated Press on Ukrainian forces' offensive in Kursk region and Vladimir Putin's priority

Russia lacks troops in the Kursk region to cope with the Ukrainian offensive, but is taking surprisingly modest steps to end the first occupation of its territories since World War II, the Associated Press said in a Thursday report.

Nigel Gould-Davies, an expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), was quoted by the American agency as saying that the Kremlin is trying at all costs to avoid having to transfer troops to the Kursk region who are “taking part in its own offensive in Donbas”. “Russia now believes that it can contain the threat on its own soil without torpedoing its most important target in Ukraine,” assessed Nigel Gould-Davies.

Tatyana Stanova of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center told the AP that “Putin is focused on bringing about the collapse of the Ukrainian state, and he believes that this will automatically make any territorial gains (by Ukrainians) irrelevant.”

READ: The Russians have transferred 30,000 soldiers to the border region

Nico Lange, an expert from the Washington think tank European Policy Analysis Center, also shares the opinion that Russia has not vigorously started to repel the offensive in Kursk region, because it is focused on the advance towards Pokrovsk in Donetsk region. If the Russians were to capture the fortified Pokrovsk, they could seriously threaten the less protected areas of Donetsk region, AP explained.

The agency reported that, according to analysts monitoring the movements of Russian forces, Moscow does not have at its disposal units that could act in a coordinated manner in Kursk Oblast and is forced to send there chaotically troops from all over the country, including rear forces, irregulars or untrained recruits. Dislodging about 10,000 Ukrainians from this territory would require transferring tens of thousands of soldiers to this front, so for now Russia is content with attacking the Ukrainian rear and blocking roads.

Conquering a Piece of Russian Territory Ukraine humiliated the Kremlin and changed the dynamics of the battlefield, experts said. But defending such a position involves great risk, extends the front line and creates significant logistical problems, as the lengthening supply routes become an increasingly easy target for the enemy, they argue.