preložiť War reporter on Kursk incursion: Putin is angry, panic reigns in the Kremlin, Ukrainians went through the territory like a knife through butter
In Studio ta3, Petra Procházková, a war reporter for the Czech daily newspaper Deník N, talked about what has been happening in the Russian border region since Tuesday, how Russian sources are reporting on the developments and what it means that Moscow has declared a state of federal emergency in the Kursk region.
Nobody expected it, especially not the Russians
"Something is happening in the Russian border area that nobody expected. Except for the command of the Ukrainian army, because the action they took a few days ago, which is still going on, must have been very thoroughly prepared," Prochazkova explained.
On Friday, Ukrainian troops managed to reach as far as 35 kilometres into the Russian interior in the Kursk region. They have occupied several Russian villages, holding on to positions that are advantageous to them and are causing major problems for the Russians.
As Prochazkova said, nobody expected this, especially not the Russians. This, she said, changes the rather depressing view of the Russian-Ukrainian war that we have been watching in recent weeks.
See the video on what is happening in the Kursk region.
The Ukrainians have played to their strengths
Numerous attacks from the Ukrainian side, for example on the Lipetsk airbase or on weapons depots, have succeeded because the Ukrainians have played to their strengths.
Instead of stationary fighting, where the Russians pushed them, they used tactics from when they liberated the Kharkiv region. "And that's cleverness, creativity and the unexpectedness of the attack," Prochazkova acknowledged. She thinks the Ukrainians didn't even need a massive force, but rather well-armed and well-trained creative units.
The Russians, on the other hand, focused on conquering Toretsk and Pokrovsk, which would have been a problem for Ukraine. The Kursk region, adjacent to Ukraine and the Sumy region, was protected by only a few border troops and soldiers of basic military service. The latter were not at all prepared for such an attack.
"The Ukrainians went through the territory like a knife through butter," the war journalist declared. According to her, this proves that the Russians have a shortage of trained soldiers and manpower at the front, and mobilization is also failing.
Gas hub important for Slovaks
One of the Ukrainian MPs stated that the Ukrainians also control the Sudzha gas hub. It is an important place, especially for Slovakia and Hungary, because Russian gas goes from there to Europe. But Procházková would not overestimate the situation.
It has not yet happened that Ukraine has destroyed gas pipelines, and besides, the contract between Russia and Ukraine on the transit of Russian gas expires at the end of the year, which the Ukrainians will not want to extend. This means that we have lost gas a few months earlier than was necessary.