SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – It’s been more than two years since Russia began an invasion of Ukraine and surprises are still coming. This week, Ukraine launched a shock attack and battles were still being fought on Russian territory Saturday.
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“It appears that the Ukrainian forces that have invaded, Russia… employing the use of some of our... Bradley Fighting Vehicles, some of our M-1 tanks that we have delivered to them, and other particular weapons like that,” CBS News Military Analyst and Retired Army Colonel Jeff McCausland told KCBS Radio.
In a Friday press release, the U.S. State Department announced that the U.S.
sent Ukraine a new $125 million package of weapons and equipment provided under Presidential Drawdown Authority. It said the package included air defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, multi-mission radars, and anti-tank weapons.
Ukraine’s moves into Russia came shortly after the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine announced that July saw the heaviest civilian casualties in Ukraine since October 2022. Coordinated attacks launched by the Russian armed forces across Ukraine on July 8 were particularly deadly.
“Civilians pay the highest price in this war,” said Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown. “We must not allow this to be normalized. International humanitarian law must be respected, and civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.”
According to Reuters, Ukraine began its attack Tuesday and Russia was still fighting “intense battles on Saturday” with thousands of Ukrainian troops making it around 12 miles into the Kursk region. This is Ukraine’s biggest attack on Russian soil since the invasion began, the outlet added.
“I think what this is, is that the Ukrainians are basically regaining the initiative, regaining the momentum,” Brendan Kearney, a military analyst and retired colonel in the USMC, told KCBS Radio.
McCausland added that the offensive is “important for a number of reasons,” including boosting morale for Ukrainians, proving to Moscow that it is not immune from war and showing the U.S. that Ukraine is worth investing in. He said that the battles are “about 330 miles... just southwest of Moscow.”
“Above all, it was humiliating for a Russian state that prides itself on protecting the motherland,” said CNN.
Why was Ukraine able to catch Russia off guard? McCausland and Kearny both offered insight.
“Russians have frittered away what I would think is their capacity to conduct large scale offensive operations this spring, McCausland said. “I mean, once the weather had changed in the areas it dried out, I was fully expecting the Russians to try to conduct some pretty significant offensive military operations beginning about early May. And so far for the first three months now of the summer and the best campaigning season that really is not occurred.”
“The Russians have shown again and again and again that their ability, to supply their own troops is just nonexistent. It’s been one of the darkest failures of the Russian military campaign,” said Kearney. He also said “the Ukrainians have done very, very well, except when they were suffering from those periodic shortages of ammunitions.”
As we approach the November election, there are concerns about even more drastic cuts to aid for Ukraine, if former President Donald Trump, the GOP candidate, is reelected.
McCausland said he expects that Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin is hoping on Trump’s reelection and that Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio has been one of the most vocal critics of Ukraine aid in Congress.
While Ukraine has continued to fight even during lags in aid, Russia has faltered. Their military casualties have been high, and they even began offering inmates reduced sentences to serve. In addition to inmates and older soldiers, they have also been using older military equipment.
“Here in this month, we’re expecting to see the F-16 start to make a case over Ukrainian airspace,” Kearney said. If Ukrainians manage to gain superiority over the air, it could be a major development in the war.
Still, McCausland believes it is far from over.
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