The Washington Institute for the Study of War assessed the reaction of the Russian authorities to the fighting in the Kursk region. Analysts believe that the Kremlin risks discrediting itself.
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Photo – novayagazeta.ru
The ISW analytical material notes that on August 7, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin urgently convened the Russian Security Council due to the situation in the Kursk region. At the meeting, the Russian leader accused Ukraine of “another large-scale provocation,” NBN reports.
American experts also drew attention to the statement by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov. According to him, they allegedly managed to stop Ukrainian forces in the border region and inflict significant losses on them.
At the same time, the aggressor country's defense department deleted its messages from August 6 that the Kursk region was allegedly attacked by a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group, which retreated. Apparently, the Russian Defense Ministry was afraid of a negative reaction to its lies about the “rush” to the region.
According to analysts, the Russian leadership is trying to balance its messages about the fighting in the Kursk region between presenting a noticeable escalation on the part of Ukraine, discrediting it on the international stage, and avoiding inciting panic in the Russian Federation regarding the consequences of a “breakthrough” in the border region.
ISW experts believe that the Kremlin, with its statements pretending to downplay the significance of the fighting in the Kursk region, presenting it as a “provocation by the Kyiv regime,” risks discrediting itself among certain communities in the aggressor country.
Recall that Putin first responded to the situation in the Russian border region a day after the start of hostilities.
