plawolf
Lieutenant General
The invasion of Russian territory has been prepared for a long time, but Ukrainian units do not plan to stay there for a long time, former Ukrainian Defence Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk, who now advises the government, told the Financial Times.
According to him, the operation has several goals. Among them are to distract Russian units from fighting in Ukraine itself and to show ordinary Russians that they can't get away from the war, thus discouraging them from supporting it.
In addition, a decisive operation by the AFU should demonstrate Russia's weaknesses, including its inability to defend its own border. Another goal is to retake the initiative on the battlefield after Ukraine failed to achieve meaningful results in its counteroffensive last year and this year had to cede twice as much territory as it liberated in 2023.
According to Zahorodnyuk, during the operation in Kursk Region, the units demonstrated the ability to implement "new tactics of general military combat" that were taught to them by Western instructors.
That sounds dangerously close to endorsing war crimes against civilians, since civilians are meant to be left unharmed and protected by warring parties.
There are already allegations of war crimes being committed by Ukraine in Kursk. If those claims are substantiated and widespread, then Ukraine would not so much have shot themselves in the foot but blown both its legs away. Since such barbarism would open the door wide open for previously neutral parties to take a much more involved role on Russia’s side, as well as weaken the support of Ukraine’s already wavering western backers.
Also, as a general point, doing a war crimes against civilians tend to strengthen, not weaken their resolve to fight.