It may take Russia a year to return the lost territories in Kursk region

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A successful operation on Russian soil - after more than two years of fighting almost exclusively on Ukrainian soil - had psychological value for Kiev, boosting the morale of Ukrainian troops and civilians while portraying Putin and his military as weak and ineffective.

The Washington Post article reports that the sudden breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is the most serious challenge for president Putin since the Wagner rebellion. Kiev's successes are raising the morale of Ukrainian troops and civilians, but at the same time are hitting the reputation of the Russian government and military hard. It is emphasized that if Russian troops continue to advance at the same speed as in other areas, they will need a year to recapture the lost territories in the Kursk region.

Moreover, as the publication points out, the Ukrainian armed forces have already occupied more than 20 Russian border villages and parts of at least one city, and are now advancing toward the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. The article notes that Ukrainian brigades will have time to dig in at fortified positions, which will potentially give Kyiv a powerful trump card in the event of a future ceasefire or peace talks.

"Ukrainian forces have clearly advanced quite far into the Kursk region, but how much territory they control or actually intend to control remains unknown," said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The border breakthrough in the Kursk region has forced the Russian forces to redeploy their reserves from other frontlines, particularly from the Donetsk region. This shift could potentially benefit Ukrainian defenders.

One of the Russian military correspondents noted that the column entering from the Belgorod region included makeshift fire support vehicles based on the MT-LB, as well as 152-mm Msta-S howitzers. Additionally, the Russian Piatnashka brigade, which had previously been involved in battles near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, has reported its arrival in the Kursk region. According to Russian media, there were other military convoys transferred to the Kursk region to "contain" the so-called breakthrough in the Sudzha area. However, not all of them managed to reach their destination. Ukrainian observers also report on the redeployment of Russian troops. According to the Telegram channel Nikolaevsky Vanyok, the Russian army has withdrawn reserves that were undergoing recovery from the Kupiansk direction. Military analyst Oleksandr Musiienko noted that the enemy has decided not to deploy reserves in the New York-Toretsk direction and is preparing to transfer them to the Kursk region.