Zelensky braces army for 'new steps' amid Kursk advance; Putin calls in ex-bodyguard to counter incursion

President Vladimir Putin has called in a trusted aide and former personal bodyguard to be his eyes and ears in monitoring operations to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia, according to two people familiar with the decision.

Poland signed a $10-billion agreement to purchase almost 100 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from US manufacturer Boeing as Warsaw ramped up its defensive capabilities.

Zelensky promises ‘new steps’ amid advances near Russia’s Kursk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed his country’s army chief to prepare for more action as Kyiv’s troops continued to make advances in Russia’s Kursk region.

“I would like to ask you not to forget to continue training for and developing the next important key steps,” Zelensky said in a video call with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, according to a video segment of their conversation published on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

While Zelensky didn’t elaborate on the nature of those future steps, Syrskyi assured him the operation was proceeding according to the plan.

Ukrainian troops had taken 74 villages and towns in Russia’s Kursk region under their control, Syrskyi told Zelensky.

Read more: Why Ukraine invaded Russia for first time in conflict: QuickTake

Putin brings in his ex-bodyguard to counter Ukrainian incursion

President Vladimir Putin has called in a trusted aide and former personal bodyguard to be his eyes and ears in monitoring operations to expel Ukrainian forces from Russia, according to two people familiar with the decision.

While there’s been no official Kremlin announcement of Alexey Dyumin’s role, he’s been tasked with overseeing the military and civilian response to the incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region and to report back to Putin, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters.

Putin named Dyumin as secretary of Russia’s State Council in May, an influential post at the body that’s responsible for developing “strategic goals and tasks of domestic and foreign policy”. Still, he doesn’t have an official role at the Defence Ministry or the Federal Security Service, which the president charged publicly on Monday with driving out Ukrainian forces from Russia.

Dyumin had been put in charge of operations in the region, said Nikolai Ivanov, a legislator for Kursk in Russia’s lower house of parliament, according to RTVi media’s website.

Russia has sent reinforcements to try to quell Ukraine’s surprise cross-border attack that was in its eighth day, the first time since World War 2 that a foreign military had seized part of its territory. Ukraine’s army chief told Zelensky late on Monday that his troops controlled 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory and that offensive operations were continuing.

Kursk acting Governor Alexey Smirnov told Putin and top officials on Monday that Ukraine had control of some 28 towns and villages over an area of about 480 square kilometres, and that 180,000 residents were leaving their homes to flee the fighting.

Dyumin (51) was among the officials present at the meeting. The former deputy defence minister and regional governor is part of an inner circle of officials who play ice hockey with Putin. He once claimed to have protected Putin from a bear as a bodyguard, and his elevation to the State Council prompted speculation that he was being groomed as a potential successor as president.

He was deputy head of the special operations division of Russia’s GRU military intelligence that was instrumental in Putin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. He’s under US, UK and European Union sanctions.

Poland signs $10bn deal with US for Apache helicopters

Poland signed a $10-billion agreement to purchase 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from US manufacturer Boeing as Warsaw ramped up its defensive capabilities.

The deal, signed on Tuesday, was the most expensive military purchase undertaken by the Polish government.

“Today’s agreement changes the face of aviation, air forces, the functioning of the Polish army,” said Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz at a military airport in the central town of Inowroclaw. “Helicopters, drones and tanks are the future of the Polish army.”

The contract is part of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s package of investments designed to strengthen Warsaw’s ability to deter potential aggression. The nation plans to strengthen its defences along its 700km long border with Russia and Belarus and has urged the EU to set up a European air defence shield as Moscow continues to wage its war against neighbouring Ukraine.

Tuesday’s deal also provides for logistical support, such as airport and hangar equipment and a supply of ammunition and spare parts for the helicopters.

Earlier this week, Poland signed a $1.2-billion agreement with Raytheon Technologies to produce 48 Patriot M903 launch stations.

Ukraine plotted incursion to throw Kremlin off balance

Ukraine had been weighing several possibilities for an attack that would shock the leadership in Moscow and Putin on the backfoot before storming across the border last week, according to a Western official familiar with the planning.

With Ukraine’s military on the defensive and Kremlin forces securing marginal gains this year, a cross-border attack had been weighed for some time before the surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region a week ago, the official said on condition of anonymity.

While President Joe Biden’s administration and the European Union have given their blessing, Nato allies have so far withheld judgment. The leadership in Kyiv didn’t share specific information on the Kursk effort until it was well under way, according to a Western intelligence official who declined to be identified.

Nato allies did not harbour reservations on the incursion, although they considered it unlikely that Ukrainian forces would be able to hold Russian territory — even if it takes weeks for Moscow to force them out of Kursk, the official said. The action was at least crucial to show that Kyiv could challenge the Kremlin, according to a Nato official familiar with briefings on the Kursk action.

The wait-and-see approach aligns with the relative reticence of leaders among Ukrainian allies to comment on the move. The risks are clear for a fighting force that’s stretched across a front line of more than 1,000km from the eastern Donbas region to the mouth of the Dnipro River.

Diverting seasoned troops away from the fight as Russian forces close in on strategic positions could leave Ukrainians more vulnerable, according to an official.

Still, while the Kursk attack took Moscow and Western partners alike off guard, the planning for such an incursion implies that the move is part of a broader strategic plan.

Ukrainian forces have launched attacks on energy facilities well inside Russian territory, prompting warnings from Washington against using US hardware for deep strikes. Kyiv has also overseen raids into Russia’s Belgorod region, next to Kursk, though with Russian anti-Kremlin volunteers.

Attacks have also involved sabotage. Ukrainian intelligence was behind an explosion of a freight train last year as it moved through a tunnel northeast of Lake Baikal, extending its reach deep into Siberia.

But the Kursk action marks a new order of magnitude, involving a swathe of Ukraine’s ground forces.

“Our operations are purely a security issue for Ukraine, to free areas near the border from Russian troops,” said Zelensky in an address to the nation.

Putin has vowed to “drive out the enemy” and secure the border. During a briefing on Monday, the Russian leader cut off Kursk’s acting regional governor, who said Ukraine’s military had taken 28 towns and villages and forced the exodus of a sixth of the region’s population.

“You can tell us about the socioeconomic situation and about helping people,” Putin told the official, Alexey Smirnov, as he signalled that fighting within Russia may spread.

Russia continued its attacks on Tuesday. Overnight missiles strikes disrupted power and gas supplies to parts of the Ukrainian city of Sumy, across the border from Kursk. DM