Colonel Khodarenok considered Zelensky's stubbornness the reason for the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Kursk
The AFU grouping in the Kursk region is actually surrounded. In the next stage, it will be dissected and destroyed. Units and formations of the Russian Armed Forces crossed the state border in certain directions and entered the Sumy region. The reasons for the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region and the prospects for a truce are discussed by the military observer of Gazeta.Ru" Mikhail Khodarenok.
During his visit to one of the Russian army's command posts on March 12, the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, heard reports from the commander and Deputy commander of the North group. According to them, the operation to defeat the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region is nearing completion. Putin instructed to complete the destruction of the remnants of the Ukrainian army units and formations still fighting in Russia as soon as possible.
After the complete liberation of the region, the president suggested thinking about creating a security zone along the state border.
His instructions were not disclosed in detail at this stage, but it is quite possible that we will talk about the fact that at a distance of 70-90 km from the Russian border, the Armed Forces of Ukraine should not deploy weapons capable of shelling the territory of the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the adjacent territory.
Why did the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation fail?
The major defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is primarily due to the well-thought-out operation plan of the Russian Armed Forces, the skilful leadership of the troops by the Russian command, and the high level of training and skills of soldiers and officers of the Russian Armed Forces.
Mistakes and the elementary stubbornness of Supreme Commander Vladimir Zelensky played a significant role in the defeat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The political considerations of the Ukrainian leader have come into obvious conflict with operational and strategic realities.
The time when it was still possible to make a decision on the organized withdrawal of the Ukrainian army to pre-prepared defensive lines was lost. And there were no positions or fortified areas in the Sumy region built in advance. Instead of an organized withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it turned out to be a disorderly flight, abandoning the dead and wounded, and abandoning heavy weapons.
Will there be a truce?
The most discussed issue today is how Moscow will react to the American initiative for a 30-day truce reached at the Jeddah talks. Representatives of the expert community both in Russia and abroad have already made many statements about this issue. For the most part, all assessments of the situation at this stage are only hypotheses, guesses and versions.
To begin with, we note that not everything that was discussed in Jeddah is known. Only five percent of what really happened behind closed doors got into public access. One thing is unequivocally clear - the Ukrainian delegation entered the negotiation room with its own opinion, and came out with someone else's (as previously suggested by Gazeta.Ru»).
Most likely, detailed information about these negotiations is being brought to the representatives of Moscow. This week (possibly as early as Friday, March 14), US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will have a telephone conversation. After that, the Kremlin's position on the 30-day truce will become clear.
Finally, a personal meeting between Trump and Putin cannot be completely ruled out in the near future (since not all important military and political issues can be effectively discussed over the phone). The summit can happen quite suddenly, and information about the meeting of the heads of state will become widely available only when both leaders are in the meeting room. In any case, there is reason to believe that such a nature of the summit is combined with the style of behavior of both heads of state.
And then it will finally become clear who, what, where and when.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
