Member-only story
Ukraine’s Kursk Invasion Quick Update - Day 4
24 years ago this month, Russia suffered another “Kursk” disaster. This one is much worse.
Welcome back, друзі.
It’s been a busy week. Here’s where we’re at with Ukraine’s Kursk invasion on Friday, August 9.
In case you need a refresher, Ukraine caught Russia completely by surprise and performed a well-coordinated, strategically sound attack on Russian territory with at least two full brigades (likely four) and special operations units.
The Russian military announced it was sending troops and armored vehicles to try to repel the attack.
Russian state TV is doing its best to show off long lines of military trucks loaded with heavy guns and tanks, as if to say, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” even though it’s pretty clear that they did not see this coming.
But wait… it gets better! The Russian journalists transmitted the coordinates where they saw the Russian reinforcements publicly!
Russian journalists need a crash course in OPSEC.
Remember, there’s no better ally than a stupid enemy.
In reality, their lack of an organized response this whole week implies ongoing massive disorganization within Russian ranks.
For instance, Russia finally got around to declaring a state of emergency in the Kursk region today.
Preparing for retaliation, Ukrainian authorities on Friday said they were evacuating 20,000 people from the Sumy region, which sits across the border from Kursk.
The impact of Ukraine’s advance is already being felt, both on the battlefield and in the broader war narrative.
After months of steadily losing ground, this operation could offer a much-needed morale boost to Ukrainian forces and bring the conflict closer to Russian civilians than ever before.
As a long-time Ukraine supporter and analyst, I have to admit that this operation caught me completely by surprise as well. But now, it’s like we’ve all received a shot of adrenaline in what was otherwise a slowing, attritional grind.
The morale boost should not be understated.
