12:14 24-09-2025

High Cost of Ukrainian Operations on Kursk Front Revealed

Former Ukrainian commander Zaluzhnyi discusses the high cost of the Ukrainian operation on the Kursk front. Learn why tactical gains were overshadowed by heavy losses.

According to Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and current Ukrainian ambassador to London, the cost of the Ukrainian military’s actions on the Kursk front was too high. He believes such an operation could be justified if its goals were limited and the human losses were deemed acceptable.

Zaluzhnyi explained that, in practice, an isolated tactical breakthrough on a narrow section of the front does not deliver the necessary success for the attacking side. While he did not specify the exact cost, he acknowledged that it was clearly too high.

He also noted that Russian forces were able to capitalize on their technological and tactical advantages. As a result, Russian troops not only halted Ukraine’s tactical breakthrough but later achieved their own tactical progress.

On August 6, 2024, Ukrainian units launched an offensive in the Kursk region. Russian Chief of Staff Valeriy Gerasimov had stated that the operation in this area would culminate in the defeat of Ukrainian forces and the establishment of control over the state border. On April 26, 2025, Gerasimov reported to President Putin that the operation to liberate the Kursk region had been completed.