Veterans of past condemned hostilities see parallels in what is happening in Kursk.
From October 2023 to July of this year, Ukrainian forces tried to hold a tiny bridgehead in Krynyky, on the left bank of the Dnieper, about 25 miles (40 km) upstream from the liberated city of Kherson.
The beachhead, originally envisioned as a possible springboard for further advances into Russian-controlled territory in southern Ukraine, was eventually lost.
The operation was very expensive. It is believed that about 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers died.
Some saw it as a ploy to distract from the lack of progress elsewhere.
They fear that something similar may happen in Kursk.
“Good idea, but bad implementation,” says Miroslav, a marine officer who served in Krinki and is now stationed in Kursk.
“Media effect, but no military result.”
Military analysts insist that despite all the difficulties, the Kursk campaign continues to play an important role.
“This is the only area where we retain the initiative,” Siarhei Kuzan of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation told me.
He acknowledged that Ukrainian troops were in “incredibly difficult conditions” in Kursk, but said Russia was devoting huge resources to expelling them – resources it would rather use elsewhere.
“The longer we can hold that Kursk front – with the right equipment, artillery, howitzers and of course long-range weapons to hit their rear – the better,” he said.
In Kiev, the high command supports the Kursk operation, arguing that it is still producing military and political results.
“This situation irritates Putin,” said one person on condition of anonymity recently. – He bears great losses there.”
Regarding how long the Ukrainian troops will be able to hold out in Kursk, the answer was unambiguous.
“As long as it is possible from a military point of view.”
