A top Russian military official has cast doubt on Moscow's ability to evict Ukrainian forces from Kursk by the year's end, raising questions about Russia's military priorities in the ongoing war.
An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has implied that Moscow cannot push Ukraine out of Kursk by the end of the year, despite Putin previously setting a deadline to kick them out by October. Russia's Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, said that all the tasks set by the country's leadership for the military in 2024 have been completed, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. He was speaking during a briefing for the military.
As Ukrainian forces remain in Kursk, it is possible that driving them out was not a task for Russian forces to complete by the year's end. Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for comment via email outside of business hours. The implications of Gerasimov's statement are significant as it brings into question what Russia's priorities are now in its nearly three-year long full-scale war with Ukraine. As Putin's previous statements made it seem as if reclaiming Kursk was high on Moscow's agenda, it is unclear what Russia's advances in the region mean in terms of long-term goals. Gerasimov also said that the reason for Kyiv's incursion into Kursk in August was 'an information effect for Western sponsors' and that Ukrainian advances had been halted. He added that the 'destruction and extrication of armed formations and foreign mercenaries from occupied population centers' is currently continuing. Following Ukraine's push into Kursk, Putin said that the 'main task, of course, is for the defense ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories,' according to Reuters. He had set a deadline for the removal of Ukrainian forces from Russian territory of October 1, and since that date has passed fighting in the region has intensified, with more than 11,000 North Korean troops being deployed to the front line
RUSSIA UKRAINE KURSK MILITARY WAR
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