Kursk operation success could make Zelenskyy a champion, failure would impact us all - military expert

He shared this view on Espreso TV.

“The risk is extremely high - there's a high chance of both success and failure. Ukraine is stretching its forces and impacting the front lines in the east, south, and Kharkiv region. However, there might also be significant success because Russian forces were caught off guard. With relatively small forces, we might force the Russians to the negotiating table and prompt them to withdraw their troops from other areas,” Stupak said.

He believes that the operation in the Kursk region was launched under pressure from Ukraine’s political leadership on the military.

"Yes, I agree that there is much truth to the idea that the political leadership pressured the military to launch this operation. We know that in 2023, the president personally insisted on this counteroffensive, emphasizing its urgency and expecting significant results," Stupak said.

The military expert noted that history is being made now, and if the operation in the Kursk region is successful, it will be studied in military academies worldwide.

“We understand that winners have many parents, while defeat is usually an orphan. If everything goes well, Zelenskyy will be celebrated as a champion. If not, we will all face consequences. But truly, history is being written now - without exaggeration or clichés. If things go as planned, the operation will achieve its intended goals. I am confident that in the next 30 years, every military academy will study this case: how a country with no navy, limited land resources, and no nuclear weapons can challenge a nation with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, and perhaps even in the universe. This is why it is a tremendous risk, like in a casino, with our country, our people, and our lives as the stakes,” Ivan Stupak said.

• Russia claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had occupied several border villages and part of the town of Sudzha.
• On August 8, the National Guard of Russia announced that it had implemented additional security measures at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant to protect a "particularly important facility."
• The Washington Post reported that Ukraine has taken control of the gas metering station in Sudzha, Kursk region. 
• Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh stated that Ukraine’s actions in the Kursk region in Russia "are consistent with U.S. policy" and do not cause any escalation.