KYIV EDITOR

THE BOLD UKRAINIAN offensive towards Kursk, which had military experts scratching their heads, could be a plan to take as much of Russia as Russia has taken of Ukraine, so that when it comes to a peace settlement they can trade it for their own land.

“They war in the Donbas has slowed to a crawl,” says former colonel Alexander Grate. “Ukraine is actually losing ground, albeit very gradually. They had to come up with something. The Russians were so focused on their own offensives that they missed the fact that there are huge areas of the border between the two countries wide open to exploitation. And that’s what the Ukrainians have done. They really should have done this last year when they threw themselves against strong Russian defence lines in futile attacks. You need a little imagination when you take on a bigger opponent. I have a feeling turgid NATO strategies may have interfered with Ukrainian imagination. Anyway, let’s see what happens next. Putin can’t be pleased. This is the kind of thing that does make him look weak.”