NATO member: Kursk shows how empty the Russian war machine is

Ukraine launched a surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6. The shock offensive caught the Russians by surprise and allowed the Ukrainians to make significant gains on the battlefield.

On August 12, Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said his forces had occupied 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 at Kursk would deal a psychological blow to the Russians, said Billström, whose country formally joined the NATO alliance in March.

“It shows the Russian population and it shows the world that the Russian war machine is empty,” Billström told the Financial Times.

While the US has not called for regime change in Russia, Billström says his country hopes to see an end to Putin’s rule over Russia.

“Everyone who looks at Russia today can see that with the current regime, we all risk the imperialist streak continuing, the imperialist plans towards its immediate neighbors, starting with Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, etc.,” Billström added.

Of course, Ukraine begins to face a pushback from the Russians at Kursk.

While Russian soldiers initially surrendered en masse to the Ukrainians, Russia has since sent more experienced troops to quell the invasion.

Last week, a Ukrainian commander with the code name Cold told The Wall Street Journal that Russia was sending better-equipped soldiers to the region.

But Billström remains confident in Ukraine’s military capabilities.

“War is a risky business. There could certainly be setbacks, but nobody can deprive Ukraine of the fact that it managed to do it once,” he told the Financial Times.

“And if they can do it once, they might do it twice or even a third time.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.