Ukraine Invades Russia: Inside Kyiv's Raid on Kursk and the Fallout

On the morning of August 6, Ukraine staged a bold raid across the its northern border of Russia. The target? Kursk oblast. The purpose? Chaos, or something more? This video explores the immediate aftermath of the raid, what Ukraine may be planning here, and Russia's options in how to stop this from happening again.

0:00 Ukraine Makes a Surprise Play
0:42 What Has Happened
3:24 Why Didn't Russia Stop Ukraine?
5:19 Will Ukraine Hold the Territory?
5:55 Ukraine's Good News Cycle
6:33 Avoiding the Kremlin's Strengths
7:26 The Kremlin's Counterstrategies

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

By Ukraine Ministry of Defense:

[ravenptl]

It wasn't an incursion bro, it's a special military operation.

[Auxius.]

Ukraine didn't invade Russia, it's a special liberation operation.

[Clone]

It’s not an invasion, Ukraine is just supporting the independence of the Kursk Peoples Republic

[Texas]

It's not a "raid" considering Russians are reporting that Ukraine is bringing up logistics, fuel, ammo, etc. You don't do that on a raid. Ukraine is there to hold ground, at least long enough to force Russia to weaken another part of the front by shifting troops.

[miklawson]

Irony, Russia complaining about being invaded by the Country they invaded. Go Ukraine.

[casper]

2022: Russia has the best army in Russia.
2023 Russia has the second best army in Ukraine.
2024: Russia has the second best army in Russia.

[Chuck_Hooks]

Voting for Kursk to become part of Ukraine is just getting underway.

[BWEEOOP]

Just when the world was distracted...

Zelensky pulls the Uno Reverse card

[obliviondust]

Citizens of Kursk voted 102% to become a part of Ukraine, with 2% margin of error.

[maciejz]

Lukashenko is sick, a new Belarusian leader without Russia's manipulation can change a lot in this country. The more Russia focuses on Ukraine, the greater the chances Belarus has to escape from its zone of influence.

[Only.D.G.]

Russia should lay down their arms and negociate with the Kursk People's Republic

[oximoronin]

Never expected Ukraine will have a special military operation in Russian soil

[kiwi_commander]

Zelensky and Ukraine should conduct a referendum on the Kursk Oblast, this would allow them to legally annex the region. Kinda like what Russia did.

[leonleong]

Ukraine is such a great neighbour to oblige to Russia’s request for a buffer region !! Nice !!

[Adyen]

"New York about to fall to Russia!" would be quite a title in American media.

[winterfell]

Ukraine has needed to keep a large reserve of troops on the border because Russia can attack whenever they want. Russia on the other hand has been operating under the belief that Ukraine cannot attack them, and thus can allocate more troops to the frontline than defending borders.

This is a wake up call for Russia, this isn't about sending troops to push back the 500-1000 Ukrainians that did the incursion. going forward, Russia will need to allocate tens of thousands of more soldiers to defend borders that were previously overlooked. that means less manpower on the frontlines and logistic supply chains that will be further stretched.

[MavpaBanan]

I haven't seen russians panicking so much in their telegram channels since the 2022 September counteroffensive

[scaper]

Another angle that I saw someone else speculate on: air defenses. Ukraine's constant leveling of Crimean air defenses forced Russia to pull them away from Kursk, giving Ukraine an opportunity to exercise air superiority. Now that they have committed to this attack, it becomes far more important for Russia to defend its borders. Just how much further can Russia's air defenses be stretched before Ukraine is able to fly with impunity?

[alansnyder]

@William Spaniel. One thing to consider is Ukraine could be preparing for a Trump Presidency by grabbing some Russian land to use as a bargaining chip in case Trump forces Ukraine to negotiate. If that happens having some Russian land is better than having no Russian land to bargain with.

[dayforit]

Congratulations to the Peoples Replublic of Kursk for being liberated and the resounding YES vote to join Ukraine, with 107% of votes in favour :)