UKRAINE’S daring blitz into Russia could spark a Hitler-style downfall for Putin, a former British army officer says.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun “Putin is panicking” over Kyiv’s shock invasion into Russia’s Kursk region.
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A thousand Ukrainian troops have this week stormed into Kursk, backed up by tanks and armoured vehicles.
Russian citizens in the region had to evacuate as they complained of Putin’s forces failing to protect them.
But de Bretton-Gordon has suggested Putin is blowing up over a “tiny” battle in the context of the war, which he says isn’t a good sign for his leadership.
He told The Sun: “The incursion around Kursk over the last few days is quite significant.
“Putin and everybody else is talking about it in Moscow.
“The fact that Putin has reacted so strongly to it … He’s the president of Russia, but he’s getting involved in tiny tactical battles, which is never good.
“It was Hitler’s downfall when he got involved in that.
“Putin’s panicking.
“To be all over the media yesterday, shouting about this, when in effect, a thousand Ukrainians would appear to have got 15 to 20 kilometres into Russia, is bonkers.”
The bloody battles on Ukraine’s frontline, de Bretton-Gordon says, are “incredibly similar” to the World War One conflict – but Ukraine’s advance into Russia moved at lightning pace.
He said: “In the last 12 months of this conflict, we’ve counted movements on the front line almost in metres, rather than kilometres.
“And that was the same in the First World War. So, an incursion of 15 to 20 kilometres is massive.”
Although not confirmed officially in Kyiv, de Bretton-Gordon said the invasion appears to be an impressive “combined arms operation”.
“It would appear it’s a combined arms operation, which we haven’t really seen before.
“You’ve got tanks, infantry, armoured vehicles, artillery, electronic warfare, air defence, all working together.
“The Russians have failed to do that.”
He told The Sun Putin’s invasion of Kharkiv collapsed earlier this year because his troops were unable to do what the Ukrainians have done this week.
Reports of the 22nd Mechanized Brigade and the 82nd Air Assault Brigade being involved point to “elite Ukrainian troops”, Hamish says.
“Whatever happens,” he adds, “psychologically it’s a big thumbs up for Kyiv and a big thumbs down for Moscow.”
Why does Ukraine launch cross-border strikes on Russia?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Ukraine has attacked Russia itself a number of times since Russia invaded their neighbour in February 2022.
The strikes have included both ground assaults with tanks and troops, and also the use of long-range missiles.
In March, Ukraine-supporting Russian rebels from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), Siberian Battalion (SB) and Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) launched a two-pronged assault.
In May last year, the Free Russia Legion attacked the country as they sought to “build a free Russia”.
None of the incursions have so far been able to hold any land, with the invaders being beaten back or retreating.
Ultimately, they seek to stretch Russian forces, strike Russia in unprotected areas, and destroy critical infrastructure like logistics hubs, ammunition depots, or disrupt Russian events.
“We might look back on this as being quite a significant operation.”
de Bretton-Gordon added: “The irony of the Russians calling this a great provocation when a thousand or so Ukrainians have piled into Russia, when we’ve got 600,000 Russian troops in Ukraine.”
He warned that Russian claims on social media are “not necessarily the truth”.
With Ukraine forces struggling to hold off the Kremlin’s troops on its home territory, it was unclear why they staged a raid into Russia.
But some experts say there’s method in the madness.
It’s believed the counter-attack could be a diversion tactic to distract Russia from pressing deeper into Ukraine, instead forcing Vlad to focus on his own turf.
Military analyst Mykhaylo ZhyrokhovIf told the BBC: “If you look at official reports, there were significantly fewer Russian glide bombs dropped in the Donetsk area.”
“That means the aircraft which carry them are now elsewhere in Russia.”
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