{"id":6555,"date":"2024-08-18T11:42:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/18\/how-ukraine-turned-the-war-on-its-head-with-surprise-attack-on-southern-russia\/"},"modified":"2024-08-18T11:42:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T11:42:50","slug":"how-ukraine-turned-the-war-on-its-head-with-surprise-attack-on-southern-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/18\/how-ukraine-turned-the-war-on-its-head-with-surprise-attack-on-southern-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ukraine turned the war on its head with surprise attack on southern Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia is scrambling to shore up its defenses more than a week into Ukraine\u2019s shock, lightning attack across the border on the southern Kursk region. <\/p>\n

A sizeable trench has been dug across countryside near the town of Selektsionnyi, around 45 kilometers (about 28 miles) from the border, in Kursk, satellite imagery showed. Online job adverts for trench diggers have emerged. \u201cPayment every week,\u201d promised one. <\/p>\n

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Trenches, west of Lgov, Russia<\/span> Maxar Technologies<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But after months on the backfoot, losing ground in grinding battles in their own territory, just how were the Ukrainians able to catch Moscow by surprise and penetrate the Russian homeland? <\/p>\n

First: superb operational security. Nothing about the operation leaked. Based on videos from the ground and satellite imagery of their advance, the troop movements almost seemed like an exercise or a defensive reinforcement. <\/p>\n

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The force was built up under cover of thick summer foliage along the rural roads of Sumy region, in northeast Ukraine. Experienced, battle-hardened units were brought up or diverted from other areas. Units such as the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, which had until recently been fighting in nearby Kharkiv region, were pulled into the mission to breach the border, according to multiple videos and social media accounts. <\/p>\n

Among the detailed preparations was precise intelligence on the readiness and ability of Russian units on the border, and the number of obstacles that lay ahead, from minefields to tank traps. There weren\u2019t many. <\/p>\n

Ukrainian forces also used detailed knowledge of the geography to launch the attack, using forest belts for cover and roads for speed. It was only in the last days before the incursion began that commanders were briefed on the mission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe key, in terms of Ukraine\u2019s success, [was that] they managed to penetrate Russian territory quite easily with little to no resistance. It was a complete surprise for the Russians, and it demonstrates that Russian intelligence services really failed to foresee any sort of Ukrainian incursion into the region,\u201d said Seskuria. <\/p>\n

Having established weak points in Russian defenses, the first Ukrainian units stormed into Kursk on the afternoon of August 6. <\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had taken control of Sudzha \u2013 the first official confirmation that the troops, which have been in the town since last Wednesday, had captured it. <\/p>\n

The town is an important transit point for gas supples from Russia to Europe via Ukraine. Satellite images showed a gas terminal at a nearby border point in ruins. <\/p>\n

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