Shock in Kremlin as Ukrainian tanks advance into Kursk region
The Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region is yielding results. "The Russians are in shock and do not understand what is happening. At the Kremlin, they were convinced that their tanks would stand in Kyiv, Warsaw, and Lisbon. But it is our tanks that are in the Kursk region today," says Mykhailo Podolak, advisor to the President of Ukraine.
Ukraine is conducting its operation in the Kursk region. As the advisor to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolak, said in an interview with Rzeczpospolita," The situation there is changing hour by hour."
"Russia conducted the war with the awareness that no one would attack its territory. They have deployed a huge amount of artillery and ballistic missile launchers along the border. They came to work - they came, shelled our regions: Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. Later, they went for lunch and returned to shooting. They thought we would never shell their territory," he says.
He argues that the action in the Kursk region also aims to ensure the safety of Ukrainians living in the areas bordering Russia by changing the Kremlin’s priorities.
"We are creating a 'sanitary zone' along our border. Besides, we are showing our partners that there are no 'red lines'. We are destroying the myth of Russia's power," says Podolak.
Russians are in shock
He adds that the operation shows Russia's weakness. "There are not enough resources; they are incapable of making quick decisions, and they cannot transfer reserves there because the most important forces are deployed in the Donbas. In the Kursk region, we are destroying Russia’s war infrastructure, which it created in case of a war, not only with Ukraine. Those logistical connections that it used to transport people and equipment along the border no longer exist. The operation was successful even because many Russian conscript soldiers were taken captive," he says.
"To move to the next stage of the war, creative actions were necessary. The fighting in the Kursk region has opened up the next stage of the war, a new battlefield. Thanks to this, we have taken the military and informational initiative. We have obliterated all talks about Russia being able to wage a long war," emphasizes Podolak.
He said the operation had changed Russians’ attitude towards the war. "They are in shock and do not understand what is happening. At the Kremlin, they were convinced that their tanks would stand in Kyiv, Warsaw, and Lisbon. But our tanks are in the Kursk region today. Russian propaganda is downplaying the topic and pretending that nothing is happening. But this is a psychological trap. Ordinary citizens discuss this daily and understand that the war has come to them. This will impact changing the moods in Russia," says Zelensky's advisor.
