It’s a move that has surprised Russia – and the world – after a growing impression in recent months that the Russian-Ukrainian war was reaching a stalemate, or, even worse, that Ukraine was slowly losing ground to Russia.
Then came the unexpected news last week that Ukraine had launched a surprise invasion across Russia’s lightly defended border, capturing towns and villages along the way. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the historic attack was underway.
Dan Sabbagh, The Guardian’s defence and security editor, who is in Ukraine’s Sumy region, said Ukrainian forces have seized only a few dozen kilometres of land but that Kiev hopes it will mark a turning point in the war. Hannah Moore Zelenskiy hopes the invasion will force some Russian troops to move away from the eastern front, where Ukrainian forces are outnumbered, to counter the Kursk invasion, Sabbagh added. The seemingly easy attack could provide a much-needed psychological boost to war-scarred Ukraine.
Photo: AP
