Ukraine War: Freuding: Attack at Kursk “a deliberately high risk”

The Ukrainian armed forces’ surprise attack on the Russian border region near Kursk has so far brought no relief to the defenders in the Donbass who are under heavy pressure. Russia has now moved personnel replacements and combat support towards Kursk instead of to the Donbass and has brought in troops from Kaliningrad and central Russia, said the chief military coordinator of German aid to Ukraine, Christian Freuding, to the German Press Agency in Berlin. “But we have not seen any significant combat troops being withdrawn from the Donbass area and moved towards Kursk,” said the major general.

“The Ukrainians’ plan worked out with the element of surprise, with the possibility of getting a bargaining chip in their hands. The Russian armed forces have been severely worn down in this area,” said Freuding, who was in Ukraine for talks a few days ago. “Now it will be very important for the Ukrainians to continue to assert, hold and defend this area.” The Ukrainians took “a consciously high risk” at Kursk.

Freuding stressed the importance of continued military aid for the country attacked by Russia. Germany has a leading role in this and has high expectations of itself. “One component is, of course, to lead the way in what we ourselves do. The second component is to encourage partners to show them ways in which we can also increase this support through joint initiatives and projects,” he said.

The day before, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced that additional arms aid worth 1.4 billion euros would be provided this year for Ukraine’s defensive struggle. Around 400 million euros are to be financed from the defense budget, and one billion euros are available through so-called partner contributions – i.e. funds that Germany has raised from partners. In addition, further significant funds in the mid-double-digit billion range are to be made available internationally in the future through payment mechanisms at EU and G7 level.

Freuding said with regard to Russia’s weapons production: “We assess the situation as being such that it has become more difficult for the Russians to keep the arms industry running with its complex component supplies, but they are still managing to do so. They are managing to do so by taking detours, and they are managing to do so by being able to count on the support of partners such as China, North Korea and Iran.” Although it is clear that sanctions are taking effect, there are ways to “find loopholes or even completely legal ways of circumventing them.”

He was rather sceptical about the prospect that the continuation of the war could fail due to resistance from the Russian population. “If we, with our western attitude, with our western view, have always thought that Russian society can only tolerate a certain number of victims, then we must now recognize that Russia has its own mathematics,” said Freuding. “What we derive from our social conditions cannot be transferred to Russia.” This social aspect finds “its implementation under the very special conditions of a dictatorial regime.”