Ukraine's Kursk operation poses strategic challenge for Putin — NATO Military Committee Chair Bauer

The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, shared his opinions in an Interfax-Ukraine interview.

Frontline situation

Assessing the course of events on the battlefield, Bauer noted that both sides currently have the same problems.

“One is personnel. Both sides are looking for new soldiers. Then you need to train those soldiers, so that's the second issue that both sides are working on. The Russians lost a lot of people who could train those soldiers because they were lost in the first two years of the war, a lot of senior officers. Ukraine has the help of 50 nations in the world. So training is partly done with the help of other nations. And then thirdly, both nations look at new capabilities and more ammunition,” he explained.

On the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in Kursk region

Bauer also predicts that “when the time is right - and this is an assessment - the Russians will try to attack, and Ukraine will consider counterattacks.”

“Kursk is a good example of where a counteroffensive was conducted and where Ukraine invaded. For the first time since 1941 a foreign power is on Russian soil. That is a strategic problem for Russia. And it also presents operational problems for Russia because of the logistic lines that go through Kursk,” Bauer stated.

Read also: Russian counteroffensive in Kursk region failed long ago - military observer

At the same time, he noted that as a result of the Kursk counteroffensive, "there are a number of successes" for Ukraine, although "there are some things not happening most likely as planned, as intended."

“Perhaps Ukraine expected more troops to be drawn away from the Donbass region into the Kursk region to solve the problem in Kursk. And that has not happened as much as probably everybody thought,” Bauer said.

Kursk operation should be “layered point of view”

The Chairman of the Military Committee also explained that the operation in Russia’s Kursk region should be “layered point of view on the strategic level, on the operational level, and on the tactical level.”

“If you look at the strategic level, Ukraine creates a strategic dilemma for Russia. When Putin says he defends the motherland, he is not successful because Ukraine is now in Russia. That's not good. So I think that is a smart move of Ukraine. Therefore, it led to a discussion in Russia about what are we going to do about this. Are we going to refocus from the Donbas to Kursk or not? The strategic dilemma I think is still there because the story is not good for Putin. But he allows it to be there for the time being without really changing his priorities,” he explained.

At the same time, Bauer stated that in Donbas, Russian troops “slowly with heavy losses move forward”.

“It's not huge gains but it is gains. And Ukraine continues to defend itself very bravely and to the most extent very effectively,” he said.