Russia's redeployment weakens Chasiv Yar offensive
2:24 PM EDT, August 21, 2024
The Russian military command has redeployed some of its units from Chasiv Yar to defend the Kursk region, analysts at ISW write. They assess that such a shift could negatively impact the Russian offensive around Chasiv Yar.
In order to halt the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russian military command decided to redeploy some of its units from the Chasiv Yar direction to defend the Kursk region, analysts at ISW wrote in their latest report.
The Institute for the Study of War assesses that such redeployments could negatively impact the pace of enemy offensives. However, the effect will not be immediately noticeable. It may take a few months before it directly affects the situation on the front.
"The ISW continues to assess that the Russian military command is likely to be exceptionally reluctant to withdraw units involved in combat operations from higher-priority sectors of the Donetsk region for fear that it may further slow down the pace of Russian operations in those areas," experts at the ISW write.
A gap in Russia's defense: Putin lacks thousands of soldiers
According to Western military estimates, about 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers are currently stationed in the Kursk region, supported by another 4,000 units. By the middle of the previous week, the Russian command had transferred only about 5,000 soldiers to the Kursk region.
These data indicate that Russian forces in the region are numerically smaller than the Ukrainian forces.
Putin lacks 15,000 soldiers to retake the Kursk region writes "The Wall Street Journal." According to these reports, Russia would need to significantly increase its armed forces in the region, transferring four times more soldiers than currently.
Source: ISW
