With its new attack in Kursk Oblast, Ukraine has demonstrated Russia's inability to recapture the region, said Col. Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) Intelligence Center. The EDF colonel also noted however,

The surprise attack seeks to reverse Ukraine’s decreasing hold of the region. Since Kyiv’s forces gained partial control of Kursk following a daring cross-border assault last August, Russian troops, aided by North Korean soldiers, have halved the territory held by Ukraine, albeit while suffering thousands of casualties.