The Ukrainian government has told the press that the Kremlin has begun to move more units into Kursk province in order to counter the Ukrainian army’s invasion, which is now stretching into its second week.
However, according to a very interesting report in the New York Times, at least so far, the surprise Ukrainian invasion has not forced the Russians to pull their best mechanized units from Ukraine’s embattled eastern front.
Military analysts say Russia has so far responded by sending units that were not fighting in hot spots on the front, making it unclear whether Ukraine’s gambit would have the effect it desired on the overall battlefield. Russia has been careful not to pull troops out of eastern Ukraine, where its army has been steadily advancing in recent months. . . .
In Washington, U.S. officials said on Wednesday that Russia had withdrawn some infantry units from Ukraine and was sending them to Kursk to help defend against the Ukrainian offensive. They would not say how many troops or where they coming from.
But the officials said they had not yet seen the Kremlin divert armored battalions and other combat power that the United States believes Russia would need to repel the incursion.
The Russians, of course, could very well be acting rationally in not moving their heavier mechanized units. As I wrote earlier this week, “it’s quite time-consuming and logistically challenging for frontline units to be disengaged, pulled from the front line, and then redeployed hundreds of miles away.”
On the other hand, without sufficient mass and mechanized firepower, the Russians may have a hard time dislodging a force that includes some of Ukraine’s better military units.