Notes

A big bet on the Russian border. The Ukrainians stunned the world on the morning of August 6 by, of all things, invading Russia—crossing over their northeastern border into the Russian Federation’s Kursk region. At the same time, the Russians continued to take territory in Ukraine’s East and threaten the key transportation hub of Pokrovsk. In the U.S. and Europe, meanwhile, the Ukrainians have been pressing the case that the Kursk incursion showed it could win on the battlefield—and that they should, accordingly, now be free to use weapons from Western powers to attack inside Russia.

All very shocking and disorienting. What does it mean for the war? Today, Robert Hamilton looks at the risks and rewards of Kyiv’s unexpected gamble—and how it’s changing interpretations of the conflict in Ukraine, in the West, and not least, in Russia.

—Michael Bluhm