A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Ukrainian troops and Russian reinforcements are gearing up for what looks like a major confrontation in the villages and towns of western Russia.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Yeah, Ukraine carried out a surprise offensive last week, crossing the border into Russian territory. Suddenly, the invader was being invaded. Now Russians are preparing for a counterattack.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Greg Myre joins us from Kyiv. Greg, Ukraine caught Russia by surprise last week. The surprise is now over. What should we look for this week?
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Yeah, the question at this point is really, what is Ukraine's goal here? They've shocked the Russians. They've boosted Ukrainian morale. They've turned the momentum in their favor for now. But toward what end? President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the operation is intended to, quote, "push the war into the aggressor's territory," and it's certainly done that. But we're not getting details - just bits and pieces.
Some troops are posting a bit on social media. They show themselves tearing down Russian flags in villages they've captured or standing in front of road signs to indicate they've entered a town. So it gives us some clue. The Ukrainians are at least 10 miles inside Russia's Kursk region, with unconfirmed reports they may have advanced 20 miles or so in some places. But we still don't know what the objective is.
MARTÍNEZ: But isn't Ukraine taking a major risk with this operation inside Russia?
MYRE: Yeah, absolutely. The Ukrainians are cheering because it's going well so far. But the coming days are full of danger. Ukrainian forces are already stretched very thin in the main battleground, the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where the Russians are gaining ground. I spoke about this with Michael Kofman. He's with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and visited the frontline areas back in June.
MICHAEL KOFMAN: This offensive carries with it also significant risk. If Ukraine is struggling to hold its own prepared defenses on its territory, how is it going to hold a salient in Kursk in Russian territory?
MARTÍNEZ: So Greg, how - has Ukraine, I mean, inflicted real damage? I mean, how hard would it be for Russia to get this territory back?
MYRE: Yeah, the Ukrainians found a vulnerable, lightly guarded spot on Russia's border, and they exploited it very quickly and rapidly. There is now fighting inside Russia and serious casualties on both sides, but you probably wouldn't call it a major damage at this point. President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military commander say reinforcements are moving into the Kursk region, and Russia will soon reclaim its border.
But Russian military bloggers are extremely critical. They say this move is slow, disorganized and doesn't inspire confidence. Tens of thousands of Russian civilians fled the area. They're complaining bitterly on social media. They said there was no warning of an attack, no organized evacuation. They had to flee. Now, Putin has promised these Russians - who've lost everything for now - a payment of 10,000 rubles, which is about $115.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. It's not the first time, though, that international attention has been focused on fighting in Kursk. Tell us about the last time.
MYRE: Yeah, A, that was in World War II, and it was raging in the summer of 1943. And Nazi Germany launched just a monumental attack against the Soviet army in the city of Kursk, the capital of the Kursk region. Both sides amassed huge numbers of tanks, artillery and planes. They fought for more than a month. The combined casualties was in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million or more. Military historians call it the largest tank battle ever and one of the largest battles of the war. The Soviets ultimately prevailed in what was a critical battle that contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv. Greg, thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
