There are workarounds. On enemy territory, most invasive actions ordinarily requiring firearms (e.g., machine guns and bazookas or MANPADS) can be triggered with key commands, but these orders must be issued individually, making it too much of a bother most of the time. When in doubt, just pull the trigger.
I enjoyed reading Michael Clarke’s article about the Kursk incursion appearing in The Times over the weekend, especially the last paragraph1.
Intrepid ambulance-chasing flaks from The Economist and The Financial Times caught up with chatty injured Ukrainian troops recuperating in Sumy region about their op23.
We concluded yesterday (while making fun of Tim at CNN) that the latest twist in our little war was the most obvious thing to expect4. Reasonable minds may differ, but we can all agree that most of the other scenarios were too depressing to even contemplate.
The stakes for both Z and P are higher now than it might seem at first glance. The ease with which several Ukrainian brigades cut through defensive lines while taking thousands of soldiers prisoner is not exactly a morale booster for Team Russia, which has responded by setting fire to a pile of truck tires at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant it controls. Z mentioned the blaze in last night’s pep talk and posted the video above on his Instagram channel.
This morning, the governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced evacuation instructions and urged residents not to panic.
What happens next is anyone’s guess.
Tom Ball, correspondent in Kyiv for The Times, writes that unnamed defense sources have warned him that Russia might launch strikes at high profile targets in Kyiv, such as the parliament building in the government quarter.
That doesn’t sound very scary, because, er, they have been doing that for the last two years.
Invading Russia is Zelensky’s riskiest decision yet. Crack troops are being used for a risky counterpunch to Putin that astonished the world — and the fingerprints of Ukraine’s president are all over it (The Times, August 10, 2024)
Ukraine’s shock raid deep inside Russia rages on. The surprise attack comes as Ukraine is under pressure in the Donbas (The Economist, August 11, 2024)
Russian reinforcements fail to push back Ukrainian incursion. Zelenskyy and troops speak on operation in Kursk region as it enters sixth day (The Financial Times, August 11, 2024)