Putin exaggerates Ukrainian losses in Kursk region to justify Russia's inability to suppress incursion – ISW

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin continues to exaggerate Russia’s progress in Kursk region, likely attempting to reassure the domestic audience of Russian forces' ability to ‘suppress’ Ukraine’s incursion in Kursk.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Experts referenced Putin’s statement to Russian media claiming that Russian troops had supposedly "blocked" around 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk region. According to the Russian leader, the "encircled" Ukrainian forces "do not even understand they are encircled." He also claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had supposedly lost control over these "encircled" units, while noting that Russia’s Ministry of Defense had not publicly reported on “claimed successful Russian infiltration of some Ukrainian positions in Kursk Oblast.”

Putin also once again failed to acknowledge that the Ukrainian front line in Kursk region extends from the Ukrainian-Russian international border and that the Ukrainian forces can freely cross sections of the border controlled by Ukraine.

“Putin’s exaggerated statistics on Ukrainian losses are likely part of his attempt to explain away Russia’s inability to decisively repel the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast after nearly three months in the context of the likely imminent deployment of North Korean troops to combat in this are,” ISW suggests.

As reported by Ukrinform, on Friday, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi clarified that the statement made by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit regarding the encirclement of the Ukrainian troops in Kursk region does not correspond to reality.