Ukraine’s top commander defends Kursk offensive

The commander in chief of the Ukrainian military, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Thursday that the Kursk offensive has been effective and the “strategy is working” to block Russian forces from taking more territory in eastern Ukraine.

Syrskyi told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the Kursk operation “reduced the threat of an enemy offensive” and prevented a Russian attack, saying Moscow had amassed tens of thousands of troops in the region, including experienced airborne ones.

He also said that Ukrainian forces have stalled the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, including around the strategic railroad town of Pokrovsk.

“Over the last six days the enemy hasn’t advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working,” he said. “We’ve taken away their ability to maneuver and to deploy their reinforcement forces from other directions … and this weakening has definitely been felt in other areas.”

Syrskyi’s comments come as Ukrainian forces face a massive Russian attack in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, with troops closing in on not only Pokrovsk but also the cities of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, both of which could help Russia advance further if captured.

Ukraine made a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on Aug. 6, a move that caught Moscow off guard and was initially hailed as a brilliant counteroffensive that demonstrated the Kremlin had weak borders.

But nearly a month since the incursion, Ukraine has not achieved one of its main objectives — diverting a sufficient number of Russian troops from the front lines to Kursk to ease up pressure there — leading to criticism of whether the gamble worked.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that some 60,000 Russian troops were diverted from Ukraine, but there has not been a noticeable impact on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has showed more optimism and has hailed his forces for their advances in Donetsk.

Ukraine has taken some 100 settlements and around 500 square miles of territory, while capturing hundreds of Russian prisoners.

It has also destroyed Russian military assets and is protecting the northeastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions while in Kursk, from which Russia has yet to expel Ukrainian forces.

Syrskyi said since Russia has outmanned and outgunned Ukraine, his troops must resort to “means with maximum use of terrain features, engineering structures and also, to use technical superiority.”

“We cannot fight in the same way as they do,” he told CNN.