Putin Said To Be Stunned By Ukraine’s Shock Attacks On Kursk & Lipetsk

In addition to the ongoing Ukrainian cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, Russia has been hit hard by a “massive attack” of drones Thursday and Friday, Lipetsk’s regional governor has said Friday.

The chief target appears to have been a nearby airfield. “The enemy is hitting civilians in Kursk and Belgorod,” Gov. Igor Artamonov wrote on Telegram. “Today [it] massively attacked our region with drones. We will not be frightened, we will not give in, but we are not going to risk the lives of our people either.”

The Ukrainian National News agency has claimed that some 700 guided bombs were destroyed in the strike on Lipetsk airfield. Russia’s defense ministry subsequently said it intercepted at least 75 “aircraft-type” drones in the southern region, and others were sent over Crimea and the Black Sea. The Skhemy investigative project of US state-funded Radio Liberty has circulated the following before and after satellite images of the airfield…

Thousands of civilians were already evacuated in Kursk, which has seen intense battles over the past four days of what appears an outright Ukrainian invasion attempt; and on Friday at least hundreds have been evacuated in western Lipetsk. Several villages have been emptied out amid a state of emergency.

New reporting by a source which claims to have an insider’s view on the Kremlin’s halls of power says President Putin and his top officials were caught off guard and stunned by these developments:

Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk and Lipetsk border regions has stunned the Russian military and come as a “slap in the face” to President Vladimir Putin personally, four Russian officials told Politika.Kozlov. 

The ongoing offensive, which Russia has failed to repel for three days, has exposed Russia’s territorial defense shortcomings and undermined Putin’s propaganda coup as the rescuer of an FSB hitman and failed Russian spies in last week’s prisoner swap with the West. 

“The chief [Putin] was in a poor mood… He probably hasn’t been seen like this since our [Russian army] was forced to retreat from Kherson in the fall of 2022,” said an official involved in preparing Kremlin events involving Putin.

The official, along with Politika.Kozlov’s other sources, spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Putin’s appearance and facial expressions during his public appearances on Wednesday and Thursday indicated that he was “dissatisfied” and “annoyed” with the situation, several Russian officials who have known Putin personally for years told Politika.Kozlov.

This also comes as images and videos widely circulate which point to serious Russian troop losses in these cross-border attacks on Kursk and Lipetsk.

Ukraine forces have also filmed themselves in possession of Gazprom natural gas facility in Sudzha…

⚡Ukrainian media outlets publish video showing Ukrainian soldiers saying they control Gazprom facility in Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk region pic.twitter.com/YhGEbmJ5oB

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) August 9, 2024

Pro-Russian military bloggers have acknowledged the authenticity of many of these videos, and the troop losses which they reveal:

A video that surfaced online appears to show bodies on burnt-out Russian military trucks in the country’s southwestern Kursk region, the latest sign that Ukraine’s cross-border assault is probing more deeply and inflicting significant damage on Moscow’s troops.

In the daytime video – shared by Russian military bloggers and independent outlets, and geolocated by CNN – about a dozen trucks are seen on the side of a road in the village of Oktyabrskoye, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of the town of Rylsk, appearing to contain dozens of dead bodies.

…The video, which a Russian military blogger says shows the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike Thursday night, comes three days after Kyiv shifted tactics with a surprise incursion into Russian territory.

Despite these attempts of Ukrainian forces to capture territory inside Russia being essentially a suicide mission, Kiev is spiking the proverbial football and is seizing the moment to lobby for even more muscular Western military support.

Watch Putin’s face while Gerasimov speaks

‘Ukrainian forces lost 54 armored vehicles and 7 tanks in the Kursk attack.’ pic.twitter.com/s5nvxjRgRo

— OSINTNic (@OSINTNic) August 7, 2024

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, claimed that most of Ukraine’s Western allies “quietly approve” of the cross-border action.

Podolyak has praised the West’s reaction to the surprise assault as being “absolutely calm, balanced, objective, and based on an understanding of the spirit of international law and the principles of defensive warfare.” He added: “Now, a significant part of the global community considers [Russia] a legitimate target for any operations and types of weapons.”