The operation of the Armed Forces of the russian federation in the Kursk Oblast has been going on for almost two weeks. However, Ukraine considered several possible options for its implementation, The Economist reports.
As the publication notes, various scenarios of strikes on the weakest points of the russian defense were considered, in particular: a strike on the Bryansk Oblast, a strike on the Kursk Oblast, a combined strike on both regions or an even larger offensive.
General of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi kept his plans secret, revealing them only to a narrow circle of generals and security service personnel. He discussed these issues face-to-face with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, without the presence of his staff.
Army intelligence collected most of the information independently, involving the Defense Intelligence (of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine) only at the late stage of the preparation of the operation.
According to one of the sources, the Western allies were also not aware of Ukraine's preparations for this operation. Minimal communications at the level of operational necessity allowed the Armed Forces to launch an attack before the russians realized what was happening.
As The Economist writes, Syrskyi confused the enemy by hiding the arrival of the most experienced units that participated in the battles. Reinforcements were sent to the forests near the border of the Kursk Oblast under the guise of preparations for the alleged russian attack on Sumy. At the same time, information appeared in the Ukrainian mass media about a possible invasion of the russian federation in the near future.
"The rotation took place about a week and a half before the start of the operation in the Kursk Oblast. The russians continued to think that we were simply strengthening the border defense," one of the sources told The Economist.
The soldiers themselves began to suspect something serious was being prepared in early August when they were suddenly issued with new equipment, including helmets with built-in headphones and new assault rifles. They conducted training on mock-ups, which, as it turned out later, were models of russian villages. The 80th brigade began to prepare for the second wave of the attack.
The publication also notes that Syrskyi, the leader, reserved most of the attacking forces for this second wave, which may have been the reason why russia initially did not take the breakthrough seriously.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on August 18, the aircraft of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces blew up another bridge in the direction of Kursk.
On August 17, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about strengthening the positions of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk Oblast.
On August 16, the Defense Forces of Ukraine, with the help of aviation, destroyed a road bridge over the Seim River in the settlement of Hlushkove, Kursk Oblast.
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