Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk has dealt a huge blow to Vladimir Putin’s leadership of Russia, says Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billström.
“The fact that this was possible in the first place is so much more important than the actual territory on the ground,” Billström said in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday.
“This is devastating for the Putin regime,” he added.
Ukraine mounted a surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6. The shock offensive caught the Russians off guard and enabled the Ukrainians to lock in significant gains on the battlefield.
On August 12, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s military, Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces had seized nearly 400 square miles of Russian territory in just a few days. That’s close to the amount of Ukrainian territory captured by Russia this year.
Ukraine’s success in Kursk would deal a psychological blow to the Russians, said Billström, whose country formally joined the NATO alliance in March.
“It shows to the Russian population and it shows to the world that the Russian war machine is hollow,” Billström told the Financial Times.
While the US has stopped short of calling for regime change in Russia, Billström says his country hopes to see an end to Putin’s rule over Russia.
“Everybody who views Russia today can see that with the current regime, we all run a risk that the imperialistic streak will continue, the imperialistic plans towards its close neighbours, starting with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc.,” Billström added.
To be sure, Ukraine is beginning to face some push back from the Russians in Kursk.
While Russian soldiers were initially surrendering en masse to the Ukrainians, Russia has since sent in more experienced troops to quell the invasion.
Last week, a Ukrainian commander with the call sign Cold told The Wall Street Journal that Russia is deploying better-equipped soldiers to the region.
But Billström remains confident in Ukraine’s military capabilities.
“War is a risky business. There might certainly be setbacks, but no one can deprive Ukraine of the fact that they were able to do this once,” he told the Financial Times.
“And if they can do it once, they might be able to do it twice or even for a third time.”
Russia’s foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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