Ukraine's advance into Russia slows as Russian reinforcements reach the region

Transcript

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has praised his troops for the surprise incursion that has claimed a chunk of western Russia. But in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin is vowing to rapidly reclaim that territory for Russia. On both sides, the militaries look to be preparing for a showdown. For more on what that might look like, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myre from Kyiv. Hey, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.

KELLY: It's interesting because up to today, the presidents of both Ukraine and Russia have been super-tight-lipped about this invasion. What are they now saying?

MYRE: Ukraine's President Zelenskyy convened his top security officials and said, quote, "we are grateful to all soldiers and commanders for their steadfastness and decisive actions in the Kursk region. This is the first time he's publicly uttered Kursk since his troops surged into this part of Western Russia nearly a week ago. He still didn't say what Ukraine wants from this operation. Ukraine's been on the defensive, losing ground to Russia in the eastern part of the country. So this new development has given Ukrainians something to cheer about. But what's the larger goal? We still don't know. I'll just add that Ukraine's top commander said Ukraine has seized more than 300 square miles of Russian land, a figure larger than the estimates we had been hearing.

KELLY: OK, so that's what Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians are saying. How about Putin?

MYRE: Well, he also gathered his security chiefs and got straight to the point. The main task, he said, is, quote, "for the defense ministry to squeeze out, to knock out the enemy from our territories." Now, he claimed Ukraine did this to create a bargaining chip and improve its negotiating position ahead of possible peace negotiations, though, Mary Louise, there's just really no prospect of such negotiations at the moment. And then he added, quote, "what negotiations can there be with people who indiscriminately attack civilians?" So, yes, he is talking about Ukraine here, but this is something Russia has done throughout the war. In fact, Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities have killed more than 20 civilians in just the past few days.

KELLY: Well, exactly. The irony here is rich. OK, if you're telling me that prospects for peace talks are dim to nonexistent, what are you watching for on the battlefield?

MYRE: Russia is sending troop reinforcements to the Kursk region. Russian TV has shown columns of military vehicles moving in. And there is ongoing fighting in Kursk, though Russia hasn't really launched a major counterattack so far. Now, Russian military bloggers have been highly critical of Russia's response. They're calling it slow, disorganized, not something that inspires confidence. Now, as we see this build-up, I called Michael Kofman at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and asked him his take on the Ukrainian operation so far.

MICHAEL KOFMAN: It has significant positive effects on Ukrainian morale, on perceptions on how this war is going. I think we have to account for those, right? But on the other hand, there are also significant potential downsides and risks in this operation. And it's important to remember that how things look on Day 6 may not be the way that they look on Day 60.

KELLY: Greg, speak for a moment on the wear of this operation. I think a lot of Americans may not be that familiar with the Russian region of Kursk. It's very prominent in military history.

MYRE: Yeah, that's right. The city of Kursk, the capital of the Kursk region, was the scene of the biggest tank battle in history and one of the biggest battles period in World War II. Nazi Germany launched a monumental offensive against the Soviet army in the summer of 1943. They fought for more than a month. The combined casualties were well into the hundreds of thousands of men, perhaps even a million or more. The battle for Kursk is not as well-known as the battle for Stalingrad, which took place just a few months earlier and a few hundred miles away. But the Soviets ultimately prevailed in both these battles, which turned the tide against Nazi Germany. Here we are 80 years later. Kursk is again turning into a battleground.

KELLY: NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv. Thank you, Greg.

MYRE: Sure thing, Mary Louise. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.