Ukraine could deliver a killer ideological blow to Putin

As I write, four brigades of the Ukrainian army are advancing into the territory of the Russian Federation, and are establishing what looks like a bridgehead for further operations. They crossed the frontier from the Sumy Oblast, to the north of Kharkhiv six days ago, overpowered the Chechen frontier guards, and have been rolling to the East ever since. They occupied the town of Sudzha and are supported by air-defence, tanks, artillery, mine-clearers and heavy engineering equipment. Their activities are being called an ‘incursion’, although nothing to date suggests a short-lived raid for reconnaissance or hit-and-run purposes. By now, the Ukrainian-occupied area has passed the 1,000 km squared mark. 

The reaction of the Russian authorities has been chaotic. They were definitely caught by surprise and had no coherent defensive measures in place. Vladimir Putin called it an ‘important terrorist provocation’ and ordered a state of emergency in the Kursk Province.