Putin's forces caught napping as Kursk incursion reveals gaps in Russian defences

Russian forces weren't "napping" this was Putin's and Russia's ridiculously bold and unworried "we don't have to give a damn because Ukraine is restrained by the west and will never attack here"" strategy.

The area was left unprotected and easy to take, so why not? It's not like Russia will be stronger because of this. Brilliant.

Mark Galeotti is not the breaking news guy, he's the one to provide perspective. It's worth every minute to listen.

Russian army incompetence shouldn't be too surprising. The Wagner Group almost had a clear road to Moscow before stopping.

Mark Galeotti provides the "meat on the bones" information: a solid backstop between truth and rumor/propaganda.

Putin. In 5 days Ukraine has taken more territory then we have in 1 year. Gerasimov. It's amazing how fast a army can advance when it's not looting toilets and washing machines.

It shows that Ukraine is no less capable than Russia. It's very simple.

Conscripts. Against real soldiers. Having a laugh? That is the very worst thing Russia could ever do.

The more I listen to Mark, the more I like what he has to say. Slava Ukraini!

Putin will respond with brand new Red Lines🤣

Japan and Finland must take action and retake own territory.

Russia have made the great mistake of taking the risk of leaving their own borders defenseless, though they should have only been using a fraction of their forces in Ukraine, because most of them need to be able to defend Russia's own soil and very long borders. But Russia now face the problem that they cannot just recruit new "manpower" to fly their fighter jets or be used as tank or artillery crew without several month or a year of intensive training, and who are going to be training them when they are either dead, injured or at the front-line ? Ukraine do not face the same kind of difficulties because they can use the vast majority of their forces to defend their own country and they are getting their specialized training abroad within the many countries of the NATO alliance.

Russia still has nightmares of the Golden Horde. This time the horde is Yellow and Blue

What I find most fascinating is watching the Russian (Putin's) attempts to pat down what he's calling a nasty campfire when everyone else can see the forest burning down.

Kusk powerplant, maybe. But Moscow is literally only 7,5 hours drive from Kursk. Wagner could have made it there last year with 5,000 troops, they chose not to. Ukraine can make it there with their 20,000 current troops taking part in this attack.

I would argue Ukrainians can hold on for quite a while based on topography of the terrain. What matters is men, equipment and morale and that's gonna be what it is regardless on what side of the border you're on. It's not luke Ukrainians can just retreat from Kurk oblast and go somewhere else, they'd still have to hold the line on the border. In many ways it is better to defend in the enemy territory then in your own - if enemy wants to push you out they have to destroy infrastructure in their own territory instead in yours.

❤Ukrainians ❤

Galeotti is excellent

Russian trolls in the comments are in a panic/denying mode :) It is so funny to read their comments that the "incursion was stopped", while Russia continues to evacuate tens of thousands of people from Kursk region and announce "anti-terrorist" operation :)

Surprised and Pleased by Ukrainian Force's