Russia withdraws some troops from Ukraine to send reinforcements to Kursk region – WSJ

Russia is forced to withdraw some of its occupation troops from Ukraine due to the situation in the Kursk region. There is no data on the scale of this process.

American officials told The Wall Street Journal about the beginning of the redeployment of forces. The newspaper emphasized that the new US assessment confirmed the claims of Ukrainian officials who said that the unexpected operation in the Kursk region had distracted the Russian Armed Forces.

The White House reported that the Ukrainian side did not warn Washington about the operation in advance.

One U.S. source told the WSJ on August 13 that Ukraine was looking to exploit gaps in Russian defense lines, hoping that this would force Russia to move troops from active frontline locations.

Ukrainian military personnel involved in the operation who spoke to the WSJ are positive.

"So far, we have the advantage," an artilleryman from the Ukrainian Armed Forces told the media, who was caught by journalists near a convenience store on his way to Russia.

Another soldier noted that the Defense Forces are now encountering more resistance from the Russian military.

"They are gathering troops, bringing in reserves," said the soldier, who was stocking up on cigarettes, gasoline, and warm clothes to take with him to the Kursk region. But he said Ukraine is moving forward. "We are going, we are going, we are going," he said.

As OBOZ.UA wrote:

– In a report for August 13, analysts of the Institute for War Studies stated that despite Russia's attempts to stabilize the situation, the Armed Forces continue to advance in the Kursk region.

– Mykhailo Samus, an analyst and director of the New Geopolitics Research Network, said that the operation of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region has put Moscow in a strategic dilemma.

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