rookhawk
AH ambassador
Another update from Ukraine - or Russia, I should more properly say. After attempting to drop it with a HIMARS rocket strike (four rockets), the Ukrainians rather decisively took out the Glushkovsky Bridge over the Seym River in Kursk. This is a significant river barrier and will make it very difficult, perhaps impossible for the Russian Army to maintain forces south of it. It is the first clear indication that I have seen, that the UA intends to potentially hold this territory for some period of time.
View attachment 626897
Secondly, it looks like it was taken out by a aircraft delivered JDAM. The clip below shows the the damage caused by the earlier HIMARS strike (they aren't really intended for dropping bridges, but bloody accurate aren't they), and then the typically precise hit by the JDAM. Interesting point about the JDAM is that a UA fighter bomber was able to successfully operate at altitude at the Russian border.
From a purely military perspective, this whole incursion, however successful, would be deemed inconsequential. But wars are as much about political consequence as military ones.
If I was Ukraine, I'd take and hold as much territory in Russia as possible, then wait for Russia to sue for peace. In the end, Ukraine gets back its territories in a swap.
@Red Leg is that your read of the incursion strategy as well?