“Haunted by Prigozhin's ghost”: Ukrainian Army General Malomuzh explains Putin’s fears 

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“The enemy is currently disorganized in the Kursk region. Unexpected attacks in areas where the enemy is unprepared and unable to mount a strong defense not only destabilize their military but also unsettle the Russian leadership. The Kremlin is now relying on highly trusted individuals because Putin is deeply fearful. He is haunted by the ‘ghost of Prigozhin’ and fears a repeat of that situation. He worries that his own military might turn against him. That is why he depends on special services, proxies, and the Russian foreign intelligence service. However, they lack control and are not equipped for this task. The Ukrainian Defense Forces' offensive in Kursk has demonstrated this,” Malomuzh explained.

According to the general, Russia is in chaos, trying to determine how to halt the Ukrainian Armed Forces' offensive in the Kursk region.

“They understand everything. They are pulling together some troops and have created a coordination headquarters that does not even have a single command. Now the Kremlin is trying to find the generals responsible for the failure of the defense of the Kursk region. Moreover, the troops that they are now deploying to the Kursk region have no experience in combat. In particular, from Kaliningrad, from other distant regions of the Russian Federation, and of course conscripts. We have all seen how their conscripts are fighting. That is why they will be forced to redeploy combat units from the hot spots in Ukraine. However, this will not help them. They still do not have a unified command and do not know what to do,” he added.

Ukraine’s cross-border incursion in Russia’s Kursk region

On August 6, the authorities of Russia's Kursk region stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly tried to break through the Russian border, but were pushed back. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group retreated to its territory.”

On August 7, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin convened the Russian military leadership to discuss the situation in the Kursk region, which he called a "large-scale provocation." At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to "strongly condemn the Kyiv regime's criminal attacks on Russian territory."

On August 10, President Zelenskyy called the operation in the Kursk region “pushing the war into the aggressor's territory.” At night of the same day, the authorities introduced a counterterrorism operation in the Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod regions of Russia.

On August 14, it became known that the Ukrainian military had formed a “sanitary (buffer) zone” for self-defense in the Kursk region of Russia. It is planned to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, and if necessary, military commandant's offices will be established in the Russian region.

At a meeting with the president on August 15, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had established the first military commandant's office in the Kursk region to provide humanitarian aid to local residents.

At the same time, Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, together with the military, is currently working on a possible route for a humanitarian corridor for civilians from Kursk to Sumy.

On August 15, The Independent reported that about 2,000 Russian servicemen were captured during an operation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.

On Friday, August 16, a bridge over the Seim River in the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region was destroyed.

That same day, the Ukrainian military released rare footage showing the first hours of their offensive operation in the Kursk region.

On August 17, military journalist Andriy Tsaplienko reported that Ukrainian forces had entered the village of Korenevo in the Kursk region.