Ukraine is in search of lost morality

The Russian region of Kursk, located about 530 kilometers southwest of Moscow and about 186 kilometers from the Ukrainian border city of Sumy, has been again at the center of talks in recent days, after the troops of Volodymyr’s government Zelensky has begun a series of incursions since the 6th of this month with attacks on Sunday, 11 defined as “terrorist” by the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.

“The kyiv regime continues its terrorist activity with the sole purpose of terrorizing the civilian population” of the Eurasian nation, the diplomat stressed.

That “massive missile strike” against the area, according to what Zajárova stated in a statement, was largely neutralized by Russian air defense systems. However, they left at least 12 dead and 121 injured, as reported by the acting governor of the area, Alekséi Smirnov, in a meeting to analyze the situation on the Russian borders.

The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed in one direction when referring to the objectives of these attacks, which even some Western media say are surprising: that of “terrorizing the civilian population of Russia,” but Ukraine is “perfectly aware that these Brutal acts do not make any sense from a military point of view, although it continues to repay the loans granted by its owners”, that is, the United States and NATO.
Those in question did not take long to declare, using the usual protocols in these cases, supporting the attacking partner:
“We continue to talk with our Ukrainian counterparts about these operations,” White House National Security Advisor John Kirby responded to reporters last Monday, while State Department spokesman Vedant Pavel put a little more gasoline in the candle, launching a kind of threat to another of the countries with an important role in these hot scenarios:
“As we and our partners have made clear (both at the G7 and at the NATO Summit this summer) together we are prepared to provide a swift and severe response if Iran were to go ahead with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which, in our view, opinion, it would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Reasons

The question that logically arises in these cases is why Ukraine made the decision to carry out that incursion into Kursk, the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II.

On the Ukrainian side, its President, apparently sending signals to his Western allies, in a televised speech said that “Russia brought the war to us, now it is coming home.”

However, it is not so simple, as stated, for example, by the American internationalist and political scientist John Hardie, for whom “kyiv probably sought to revitalize internal morale and Western confidence, reversing the pessimistic narrative of the last ten months,” when The much-touted and much-questioned Ukrainian counteroffensive began.

“The intention is to strengthen the Ukrainian position for upcoming talks with the Kremlin,” said David Betz, professor of War History at Kings College London, for his part, but “the attacks on Russian territory only reinforce support for Putin”, coinciding, probably unintentionally, with what María Zajárova said.

In these statements, provided to BBC Mundo, he also stressed that the maneuver “was very risky and with few political or strategic gains, since it has drained Ukrainian resources from other fronts, where there are extreme needs and has not caused many casualties to Russia.”

But Zelensky may be seeking to regain lost morale among his troops and credibility among his allies.

The forced step towards the suspension of negotiations

Caracas. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, after the incursions, held a televised meeting last Monday with high-level security officials and regional governors, in which he was forceful in his assessments:

“The enemy is trying to improve its positions for a possible negotiation in the future,” he stressed, and then asked:

“What kind of negotiations can we have with people who indiscriminately attack civilians and try to create a threat to nuclear energy facilities?”

The president gave an explanation for the recent actions carried out by kyiv:
“Ukraine, with the armed provocation on the border with Russia, intends to reduce the pace of the advance of Russian troops within the framework of the special military operation. However, kyiv’s hopes are futile. The pace of liberation of the territories of Donbas and New Russia has increased 1,5 times,” ensuring that there will be “an adequate response.”

At least immediately, there is an answer: the ambassador on special mission of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Rodion Miróshnik, spoke of a suspension of the negotiations.

“Conducting negotiations with an absolutely unsuitable adversary today is simply unnatural,” which is why “Ukraine has put at least a long-term pause on the issue of peace talks.”

The raid that is costing quite expensive

Beyond the intentions of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to regain credibility with his allies – from whom he continues to request more support in weapons and financing – and the fact that official propaganda gives him not only epic overtones, but supposedly victorious to the raid on Kursk, not everything is as they try to make it seem.
In a note published on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, the reality on other fronts is laid bare.

Citing soldiers from that country, the media notes that the operation “transferred troops and weapons from its already weakened front lines to carry it out, a gamble that risks worsening an already bad situation.”

“We don’t have enough people to do our job properly,” a commander of the 21st Battalion of the Separate Presidential Brigade told the media, while only 20% of the casualties they suffer are replaced. “If we are supposed to have five or six people in a position, we will have two or three,” added an Army major.

“The Russians have more of everything than us: more people, more weapons, more projectiles, more ammunition,” another commander revealed.