The Invasion of Kursk Weakened Ukrainian Defense – FT.

Over the last two weeks, Ukrainian defense forces have managed to capture more territory in Russia than Moscow has in Ukraine over the entire year. This has proven that the Ukrainian army has significant capabilities and boosted the morale of our compatriots.

However, the sudden success of the Ukrainian defense forces has not yet led to the main objective, which is the withdrawal of Russian troops and the easing of pressure on hot spots in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow's aggression continues, reports the Financial Times.

“We partially attribute the Russian offensive in Donbas to Kyiv reallocating its resources to the north,” said one of the commanders of a Ukrainian artillery brigade in eastern Ukraine.

In particular, Ukrainian troops have been forced to limit the use of artillery shells as some of the artillery equipment was redistributed to combat the invasion in the Kursk region. Ukraine was also forced to relocate over 10,000 military personnel, including elite airborne troops and mechanized brigades, from the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, where intense fighting continues.

“Even a few days before the launch of the offensive on Kursk, Ukrainian defenders in the Donetsk region were already feeling some pressure. Now Russian forces have achieved a tactical success in Donetsk, and if the situation does not change, their further advance will be significant,” said a high-ranking Ukrainian official familiar with military operations.

At the moment, Ukrainian losses during the offensive in the Kursk region are not being commented on by Kyiv. However, according to intelligence researchers, Ukraine has already lost at least 51 units of valuable military equipment, including German Marder vehicles, American Stryker vehicles, and Himars missiles.

Despite statements from U.S. officials about the redeployment of Russian troops from the south and east of Ukraine to the north, to Kursk, in reality, these forces are moving from the southern part of the country and occupied Crimea, which has less impact on the situation in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts also argue that there are no indications of significant redeployments of Russian troops from the most intense front in the east of the country.

“Despite the successful defense in the Kursk region, the Russians are still not redeploying their troops in large numbers. The main attacking forces remain in place,” reported the 47th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.