Vladimir Putin has taken a humiliating hammer blow as he now faces a serious propaganda challenge, an army has observed.
Putin has attempted to downplay the impact of Ukraine’s current incursion into the Kursk region, which has led to the evacuation of thousands of civilians and threatens to escalate into a riot.
The Russian president has relied heavily on his propaganda device since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to consolidate public opinion and generate criticism.
Matthew Savill, director of military science at the Royal United Services Institute, believes the operation is “going badly” in Moscow.
He believes Russia has been “very embarrassed” after its forces failed to prevent Ukrainian infantrymen from crossing the border.
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Speaking to Sky News, the expert said: “The loss of territory and the evacuation of civilians will be frowned upon in Russia as proof that it ‘can’t’. “
Ukraine now claims more than 1,000 square meters of Russian territory in the Kursk region, a week after the incursion began.
However, Savill warned that it would be “difficult” for Kyiv to have a force in Russia due to its “limited reserves”.
He added: “While the Ukrainians have reversed the public narrative that they are on the defensive, it is unlikely that they will need to sustain a large-scale incursion for months.
“They will have to know when is the most productive time to exchange the lands they have captured and for what purpose. ”
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The Russian military has struggled so hard to cope with the marvelous attack, which has caused tens of thousands of civilians to flee the region.
For Ukraine, the raid brought a much-needed morale boost at a time when its undermanned and underarmed forces face relentless Russian attacks along a more than 1,000 kilometer front line.
Unlike previous incursions carried out through small teams of Russian anti-Kremlin volunteers fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, the incursion into the Kursk region allegedly involved groups of several battle-hardened Ukrainian army brigades.
Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian cell teams composed of several armored vehicles each temporarily traveled tens of kilometers into Russian territory, avoiding Russian fortifications and sowing panic in the region.
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