Putin exaggerates Ukrainian losses in Kursk Oblast to justify inability to recapture it – ISW

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is deliberately exaggerating the statistics of Ukrainian losses in Russia’s Kursk Oblast to justify his military's inability to recapture the region.

Source: ISW

Details: ISW analysts noted that Putin was exaggerating Russia's progress in Kursk Oblast, probably in an attempt to reassure the Russian audience of the Russian military's ability to "suppress" Ukraine's invasion of Russia’s oblast.

Analysts mentioned Putin's statement to Russian media about the supposedly encircled 2,000 Ukrainian troops in the region. However, as noted in the ISW report, the Russian Ministry of Defence has not publicly reported on the supposedly successful "penetration of Russian troops into some Ukrainian positions in Kursk Oblast".

Putin also failed to acknowledge that the Ukrainian front line in Kursk Oblast stretches from the Ukraine-Russia international border, and that Ukrainian troops can freely cross the border areas under Ukrainian control.

It was reported that according to the estimates of Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who denied Putin's claims that Ukrainian troops were encircled, Russian troop losses since 8 August in Kursk Oblast have amounted to 17,819 soldiers.

Although ISW cannot independently verify the Ukrainian estimates of Russian casualties, Russian and Ukrainian reporting indicates that Ukrainian troops continue to operate in Kursk Oblast.

Quote: "Putin’s exaggerated statistics on Ukrainian losses are likely part of his attempt to explain away Russia’s inability to decisively repel the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast after nearly three months in the context of the likely imminent deployment of North Korean troops to combat in this area."

Background: On 25 October, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that reports of Ukrainian troops being surrounded in Russia's Kursk oblast are disinformation from the aggressor state.

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