“Ukraine is trying to create leverage on Russia to have real negotiations, not a capitulation packaged as a negotiation. The operation, details of which Kyiv did not share with western partners beforehand, was also born out of frustration at repeated warnings about the risks of escalation by Washington”.

Alyona Getmanchuk, the Director of New Europe Center, comments for the Guardian about Ukraine’s incursion into Russia.

Shaun Walker`s story from Sumy region and Kyiv on the military and political calculations of the Kursk offensive is here.