Ukraine added to the victory list this week by capturing “the key town of Sudzha.” They’re continuing their advances into the Russian heartland by occupying more of the Kursk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gloats to the press that Sudzha provides his forces with “an important foothold.”
Ukraine captures more of Russia
Ukraine is “setting up a commandant’s office” in the Russian town of Sudzha. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a press briefing to cheerfully boast Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, their commander in chief, informed him of the latest victory.
As of Thursday, August 15, “more than 80 settlements in Kursk” have fallen into Ukrainian hands.
The president was quick to “thank every warrior of ours who ensures all this.” Moscow isn’t saying muck. Vladimir Putin made the rounds of occupied towns and cities earlier in the week.
"No one bothers us, the Ukrainian army told us to live peacefully and normally" – in one sentence, the local residents of Sudzha refuted the entire image of Russian propaganda pic.twitter.com/aOhQyRBZa2
— TOGA (@TOGAjano21) August 16, 2024
He’s showing a calm face to the TV cameras and laughing it off as merely an attempt for Ukraine to gain better bargaining position. Meanwhile, in private, he’s rumored to be threatening to personally shoot the responsible officers who allowed this to happen.
While the Kremlin isn’t commenting to the press, “Russian military bloggers are continuing to report fighting across Kursk, including in and around Sudzha.” They note that Ukraine “pressured the town for more than a week.”
The experts have been expecting it’s fall for days. Not only is it a boost to morale, “Sudzha will bolster Ukrainian troops in Kursk as they continue to advance through the Russian region.”
Russia struggling
The Hill reports that “Russia has struggled to beat back the Ukrainian advance, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin holding security meetings and ordering border guards and the military to repel the attacks.”
Ukraine is claiming “386 square miles have already been taken in Kursk.”
The idea is to capture as much of Russia as Putin captured from them. That way when they negotiate an end to the war, they can trade back. That’s not the only option. While Ukraine is terrorizing the Russian countryside, Vlad needs to pull troops back out of Ukrainian territory to fight back.
In Sudzha, on Russian territory, things are probably better and happier than before the occupation. pic.twitter.com/XCVCNwaspb
— TOGA (@TOGAjano21) August 16, 2024
That could give the freedom fighters a chance to regain their own territory, while keeping the Russian land or getting behind the Russians. That would put them in a vice of Ukrainian forces front and rear.
Now that they have Sudzha firmly under military control, Ukraine forces are “advancing northwest and southeast of the town in multiple directions, threatening Russian forces across a long and new battleground.”
One where the Russians need to be careful they don’t bomb their own civilians. Ukraine “has also captured dozens of prisoners to be used in exchanges.“
