Issue Briefs

Kursk Pocket Shows Ukraine Still in the Fight (From Real Clear Defense)

By Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D., Vice President, Lexington Institute.

August 19, 2024 – Ukraine’s war against Russia is a stalemate no more. Putin did not see this coming. And NATO is content to let Ukraine take the war to Russia. Read full article here.

Ukraine’s combat experience and training by NATO members is paying off. Ukraine “is quite well-organized,” Michael Clarke of Britain’s Royal United Services Institute told Sky News. “They know what they are doing, and they’ve got a plan,” Clarke said, to include rotating troops in and out of the battle zone. That’s highly professional and will be a morale boost for Ukraine’s forces in the east and south.

So far, the White House is fine with all this. A few months ago, the White House joined Britain and other allies in authorizing Ukraine to use NATO-supplied weapons to hit specific targets inside Russia. Evidently, that policy extends to ground combat, too. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Aug. 9 that Ukraine has permission to attack imminent build-ups of Russian forces. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh confirmed Ukraine’s operations in Kursk “are within the U.S. policy of where they can operate our weapons, our systems, our capabilities.”

This article was originally published on the Lexington Institute: https://lexingtoninstitute.org/kursk-pocket-shows-ukraine-still-in-the-fight-from-real-clear-defense/