Russia was not the only country to have been caught off guard by Ukraine's incursion into its territory: Kyiv's allies also appear to have been taken by surprise. Ten days after the start of the unprecedented Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region on August 6, most are not hiding their satisfaction – albeit while showing caution and discretion.
"I'd rather not comment on that publicly," US President Joe Biden said on August 13. He said that he had been discussing Ukraine with his teams "probably every four or five hours, for the last six or eight days," and that his administration was "in constant contact with the Ukrainians." He then added with satisfaction: "It's creating a real dilemma for Putin." US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said: "I expect that we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian partners."
One of Kyiv's stated objectives is to force Russia to pull troops back from the front line in Ukraine's Donbas to come to the rescue of the Kursk region. However, Ukrainian forces are not only maintaining their positions on Russian soil, but appear to be gaining ground.
On Thursday, August 15, Kyiv claimed to control 82 settlements and 1,150 square kilometers in the Kursk region. By comparison, it took Russian forces six months, from January to July, to occupy a further 1,175 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War. "In total, our troops have advanced 35 kilometers in the enemy's defense," Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
It is not known whether Ukraine's allies had been warned in advance of the operation. In any case, the day after the August 6 assault, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declared that the US had not been told. "We provide them with equipment, we provide them with advice, but when it comes to the kind of day-by-day tactics that they carry out, the day-by-day strikes that they take, sometimes we're in communication about them, sometimes we're not."
The Biden administration has discouraged cross-border strikes, but in June authorized Ukraine to use some US-supplied weapons to target military assets on Russian territory. "Nothing about our policy has changed, and with the actions that they are taking today, they're not in violation of our policy," Miller added.
Some US politicians have been less reticent, such as South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was in Kyiv on Monday where he met President Zelensky, accompanied by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal. "What do I think of Kursk? Bold, brilliant, beautiful. Keep it up," he said. "Give them weapons they need to win the war they can't afford to lose," he added, in a remark aimed at the Biden administration.
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