Russian territories under Ukraine's control are Putin's grave mistake - political scientist

Political scientist and professor at the Free University of Riga, Dmytro Oreshkin, said this in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program on Espreso.

“What is termed ‘getting out of the war’ - there haven't been such serious wars in Europe, at least over territory, for almost a hundred years. The last one was Hitler's, which was about living space. Germany can exist perfectly well without the Hägerstrand living space. The largest economy in Europe had no need to seize Ukrainian black soil, Baku oil, or Donetsk steel and coal, as Hitler claimed. This is a normal developmental trend - intensifying space instead of seizing other people's territories. Putin is rolling back to the strategies of nineteenth-century geopolitics, the geopolitics of space, and in this realm, he is also losing, because you are already in the Kursk region,” he said.

"Both sides have suffered heavy losses, accumulated fatigue over the past two years, and face economic problems. This is why European wars have stopped: they don't succeed in finally defeating anyone. Victory tends to occur in less developed socio-cultural contexts, and at some point, an agreement must be reached. For Putin, the presence of Russian territories under Ukrainian control is a serious geopolitical mistake because, in the value system that Russia operates within, territory is paramount.

Putin has begun liberating 'Russian' people on Ukrainian territory - a narrative that public opinion readily accepts. Putin states that Ukraine is not a legitimate entity and claims he is liberating Russian territories. However, the consequence of these claims is that the Kursk region, recognized internationally as Russian territory, is now under Ukrainian control. It remains unclear how he can resolve this situation.

Therefore, I believe that in the near future, Putin's main focus will be on regaining control over the Kursk region. This is a propaganda issue because, until he achieves this, he cannot portray himself as an effective defender of the Russian people. In this sense, Ukraine has dealt a very painful blow right at the heart of his narrative,” he summarized.

• Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko summarized the first month of Ukraine's operation in Russia's Kursk region.