US, UK provide Ukraine with satellite data on Kursk

In the days after the offensive, the United States and Britain have provided Ukraine with satellite imagery and other information about the Kursk region — not to help Ukraine push deeper into Russia, but to allow its commanders to better track Russian reinforcements that might attack them or cut off their eventual withdrawal back to Ukraine.

Some American officials say that the more land Ukraine tries to take in western Russia, the greater the risk of overextending its supply lines and air defence umbrella, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

And pushing more forces into Kursk creates weaknesses along the front lines in eastern Ukraine, especially in the Donbas region, where its forces are facing an intense Russian assault.

But American officials are not convinced that Ukraine intends to hold its position in Russia long term. Ukrainian forces have not been digging the kind of extensive trenches necessary to protect soldiers and equipment from enemy fire, if Russia musters enough firepower to repel the attack. They have not been laying minefields to slow down a counterattack, nor have they constructed barriers to slow down Russian tanks. 

A Pentagon official said Ukraine’s delay in building defensive fortifications did not necessarily mean that Kyiv did not intend to hold territory in Russia. Ukraine could look to build defensive positions even deeper inside Russia, extending the territory it has seized in order to add to Mr. Zelenskyy’s buffer zone.

While the Ukrainians’ initial attack was carefully planned, it succeeded far beyond their original goals, and they now have a more ad hoc strategy that has taken advantage of Russia’s slow and disjointed response.