The invasion of Kursk in Ukraine shows that it has learned to say nothing before attacking

The New York Times’ report on the prelude to the bold, cross-border attack offers a glimpse of Ukraine’s emphasis this time on secrecy.

According to The Times, a research institute affiliated with the Ukrainian military studied successful campaigns in modern history and found that the winning side often said nothing publicly before their attacks.

That doctrine seems to have cascaded down to the troops on the ground.

A Ukrainian deputy brigade commander, identified by The Times as Lt. Col. Artem, told reporters that most senior officers had only three days’ notice that they would invade.

Soldiers in non-leadership positions were only told the day before, the media added.

The Times also reported that Ukraine tried to disguise its concentration of forces along the border by spreading them in houses scattered across villages and pretending to be conducting training exercises.

Most notably, Ukraine’s leaders largely kept focus on the offensive even days after reports emerged that Kiev’s troops were pushing kilometers deep into Kursk.

Russia initially reported that Ukraine had sent around 40 armored vehicles and 1,000 soldiers, although reports on the ground indicate that the invasion force is much larger.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has only released information about its operations in Kursk, even its gains. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged Saturday’s attack, five days after the incursion.

Ukraine’s low-key approach comes as observers struggle to determine how far Kiev has pushed into Kursk and what its strategic goals for the attack might be.

A teaser video and the failed attack of 2023

The silence in Kiev contrasts with the run-up to last summer’s failed counteroffensive, when Ukrainian forces smashed into Russian defenses in the south but managed to regain only about 200 square miles of territory.

Back then, Ukraine boldly declared its main objective: to cut off Russia’s eastern front from its supply lines through Crimea.

Before the attack, he even released a teaser video for his counteroffensive, telling people – perhaps in a moment of irony – that he was keeping his attack secret.

He did not say when he would attack, but the intention to attack Russian lines was telegraphed as early as mid-2022. Kiev took so long to execute that there was even suspicion that the counteroffensive was only a ruse.

Zelensky later said the Russians likely knew in advance of Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive plans.

“The Russians knew where we were going to attack,” he told reporters separately in April. “How did they know? How did they get this information? I can’t tell you that. History will tell.”

The Times’ latest report described how Ukrainian researchers began studying past campaigns after the 2023 failures.

This time, Ukraine appears to have kept the offensive under wraps, to the extent that it had to rush to evacuate its own border villages as Russia struck back.

At Kursk, the Russian forces seem to have been caught off guard. Ukraine is said to have breached defensive lines along several positions, saying on Monday it had seized 28 villages.

During the February 2022 invasion, the Kremlin was believed to have kept many of its troops in the dark. Some tank drivers did not even know where they were going as their columns crossed the border.