Zaluzhnyi commented on the Kursk operation for the first time

The Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi commented on the Kursk operation for the first time.

He expressed his opinion in an article for Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

"Such actions [the breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation in August 2024], if justified primarily by human losses, with limited goals, can be carried out. However, practice has shown that in the end, an isolated tactical breakthrough on a narrow section of the front does not bring the necessary success to the attacking side," he wrote.

Zaluzhnyi noted that he did not know the price of such actions, but, in his opinion, it was "obviously too high".

"The defending troops managed to take advantage of both technological and tactical advantages and, over time, not only prevented the tactical breakthrough from developing into an operational success, but later themselves carried out a tactical advance — also without operational success. The price of such actions is unknown to me, but it is obvious that it was too high," Zaluzhnyi believes.

The Kursk operation

The Kursk operation began on August 6, 2024, and on August 15, Ukraine established the first military commandantʼs office in the Kursk region.

In October, it became known that the first soldiers from the DPRK had arrived in Kursk. At that time, it was about 12 thousand soldiers.

The General Staff reported on February 6 that during the operation, the enemyʼs total losses amounted to almost 40 000 people, of which more than 16 thousand were killed.

In early March, Russian propaganda began actively promoting theses about the mass retreat of Ukrainian troops in Kursk and their encirclement by the Russian army.

On March 12, the General Staff confirmed significant Russian advances in the region, but at the time rejected claims of encirclement. On May 21, the General Staff said that the Ukrainian operation in the region was ongoing. Eventually, the Russians were able to regain control of the city of Sudzha, as well as the Sudzha and Korenivsky districts.

Later, they occupied part of the Sumy district, but in the summer the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to push back Russian units and return part of the captured territories.

Author: Maryna Klyueva

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