New York Times: “The operation in the Kursk region was prepared with extraordinary secrecy. Only a few people knew about it”

According to the deputy commander of one of the Ukrainian brigades, with whom the NYT journalists managed to talk, only a limited circle of soldiers knew about the plans for the offensive. Senior officers were told about the preparations for the invasion only three days before it began, and the rank and file only learned that they would be heading to Russian territory the day before the attack.

At the same time, the military man claims that as news of the offensive spread among the military, commanders relied on the soldiers' prudence and did not take away their phones. As part of the preparation, armored vehicles were stored in forests, troop movements were disguised as training and withdrawal for replenishment of equipment, and soldiers had to spend the night in abandoned houses in border villages. Combined units for the breakthrough were assembled from different parts of the front – Volchansk, Chasovy Yar, New York, etc.

According to journalists, the strategy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was to quickly break through the border, advance further along the roads and block Russian counterattacks, using the advantages of the landscape. In the Kursk region, fields alternate with lakes and swamps, which, according to the plan of the Ukrainian Armed Forces command, was supposed to limit the ability of Russian troops to move off-road.

“This is a blow to the authority of Russia, which considers itself a victorious empire. We have created a buffer zone inside this country,” – said the journalists' interlocutor, who believes that the operation has already achieved its goal.

The secrecy in which the preparations were carried out was of paramount importance. The NYT authors believe that the Ukrainian authorities drew the appropriate conclusions after the unsuccessful counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the summer of 2023 in southern Ukraine, the preparation for which was widely announced in the media.

U.S. officials told The Times that they were given no formal warning about the high-risk operation, perhaps because Ukrainian officials feared the Americans would try to persuade Ukraine to cancel it, perhaps because of Ukraine's obsessive preoccupation with leaks.

American officials said they were surprised by how well the operation had progressed but were skeptical that the Ukrainians could sustain their gains.

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