Why did the Armed Forces of Ukraine launch a new offensive in Kurshchyna?

According to Ben Hodges, Ukrainian soldiers intend to prove that the Russian army is actually in a much weaker position than it was a year ago.

In addition, Kyiv's allies must understand that Ukraine will not lose.

The former commander of the US Army in Europe emphasized that thanks to this offensive, Ukraine gained an important lever of influence "at the most fundamental level."

As Hodges notes, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have held the Kursk bridgehead since August 2024, and were even able to build up new military forces for a new offensive:

This tells me that Ukrainian forces have become even more experienced and capable of using electronic warfare, as well as what we call operational security.

Ben Hodges

Former commander of the US Army in Europe

Ukraine prepares for negotiations using its strength

According to Ben Hodges, the new offensive by the Ukrainian Defense Forces is disrupting dictator Putin's plans to retain temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories during possible future negotiations.

"I don't think Russia would agree to Ukraine keeping part of the Kursk region. So for me, this highlights the true brilliance of the Ukrainian general staff, which launched this counteroffensive back in August," the former military officer added.

What is important to understand is that January 6 marked exactly five months since the start of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region.

According to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, during this period, the Russian army lost more than 38,000 soldiers on the specified section of the front.

On January 5, Ukrainian soldiers launched a new offensive in Russian Kursk.