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Kostyantyn Mashovets: Will the Russian command decide to "withdraw something" from two directions in order to "resolve the Kursk crisis"?

Kostyantyn Mashovets: Will the Russian command decide to "withdraw something" from two directions in order to "resolve the Kursk crisis"?
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By Kostyantyn Mashovets

 

An obvious and important question is whether the Russian command will decide to "withdraw something" from two directions in order to "resolve the Kursk crisis."

In my opinion, for now, they will not decide...

As long as the Russian command believes it can SIMULTANEOUSLY "overcome the Kursk crisis" and conduct an offensive, for example, towards Pokrovsk, they will continue to do so (or at least delay it—"to the last").

It is quite possible that, in this context, we will see a "gradual narrowing" of the scope and scale of the entire strategic summer-autumn offensive of the Russians.

Initially, the auxiliary and secondary directions, such as those of Vremeevka or Kurakhove, will "drop off." Then, the enemy's offensive thrusts on more important fronts, like Kupiansk or Kharkiv, will cease... and last of all, the Russian offensive efforts on the main, "primary" operational directions—Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk—will stop.

Therefore, while the Ukrainian offensive operation in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation has significant potential for "stretching" the enemy's reserves, even at a strategic level (if, of course, they still have any, which I strongly doubt), I would not expect an immediate cessation of the Russian offensive everywhere and all at once.

Such a scenario would require a truly catastrophic event for the Russians, at least of an operational level, with a clear prospect of escalating to a strategic level.

In that case, they would indeed start pulling troops from other operational directions, disregarding some obscure hamlets and villages in Donetsk, Luhansk, or Kharkiv regions...

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