Russian President Vladimir Putin is resorting to using his space troops as ground forces fail to stop the Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian forces caught Russian military and political leadership off guard after launching a full-scale invasion in Kursk, which is home to important Russian military and nuclear facilities. Hundreds of Russian soldiers surrendered in the region, giving Putin’s army their biggest setback in the war that started in February 2022.
This is the first-ever foreign invasion of Russia since World War II, and the country has lost more than 1,150 square kilometers of its territory to advancing Ukrainian forces. These setbacks have led Putin to deploy his so-called “space troops” to push back Ukrainian forces.
Reportedly, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), a Russian military wing for aerial and space offensive, has formed a motorized rifles regiment against the Ukrainian forces that have captured notable parts of Russian territory in recent days.
This military regiment contains security professionals, engineers, and soldiers who will lead the operation against Ukrainian troops stationed in Kursk. Meanwhile, this deployment has confused many Russian military insiders who are questioning the efficiency of the decision.
According to the Fighterbomber Telegram channel, which has close ties with the VKS, the regiment has no access to motorized rifles and that the branch “begs” others for weapons other than Kalashnikov.
Some critics also argue that the people in charge of this regiment are not trained for frontline combat and only indulge occasionally in high-level military training.
Russia is also taking other desperate measures to force the Ukrainian army to retreat from Kursk, especially considering the fact that the Ukrainian forces are still gaining momentum and are likely to intensify their assault.
For instance, Russia has already deployed nearly 5,000 of its soldiers in Kursk, who were previously fighting on tough battlegrounds within Ukraine. Seeing Russian authorities in panic, military analysts believe that Putin does not have any immediate solution to bring his country out of the prevailing chaos.
Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya wrote on X that pulling back such a large number of soldiers from the frontlines means that Russia has now been encircled in a well-engineered trap.
She also slammed Putin for sending new military recruits straight into the war against Ukrainian forces in Kursk, claiming that this step would increase negative sentiments against Putin within the Russian public.
