Putin faces dilemma on Kursk after ‘tremendous’ blow from Ukraine, says ex-ambassador

Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said in a Wednesday interview that Ukraine’s offensive inside Russia’s Kursk region is dealing a “tremendous” blow to the country’s leader, President Vladimir Putin.

“I think psychologically, this blow is tremendous to Putin, especially among elites, because he’s supposed to be the protector. He’s supposed to be the strong man defending Russia against the West, defending Russia against Ukraine,” McFaul told MSNBC’s José Díaz-Balart.

“And now for a second time in as many years, he has failed to do so,” he continued.

McFaul said the latest incursion reminds him of last summer’s uprising led by Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who challenged the Kremlin in an armed rebellion that ultimately ended in a negotiation with Putin.

“Putin had to negotiate with him to stop that,” McFaul said. “Here, Ukrainians aren’t going to negotiate with him to leave.”

“And it’s clear to me that so far, he does not have a strategy for repelling him. I think psychologically, this is very damaging to Vladimir Putin,” he added.

Ukraine last week launched a significant counteroffensive in the Kursk region, and Russian forces still appear to be struggling to beat back Ukrainian troops who are now digging into the territory they grabbed.

Ukraine has taken approximately 386 square miles of Kursk, according to Kyiv, and is threatening Russia from multiple directions, notably around the key city of Sudzha, which Ukrainian forces may have already captured. Ukraine continues to advance in directions northwest and southeast of Sudzha.

Putin has tasked the Federal Security Service, the Russian national guard and the military with restoring order to Kursk, but several experts said Putin faces challenges in winning back territory.

McFaul said the offensive could “maybe” affect Putin’s stranglehold on the Russian military but said it’s “hard to say early on.”

“But this is an embarrassment for intelligence. Remember, the intelligence folks didn’t get this right either. It’s an embarrassment for the military,” he said.

McFaul said it’s “striking” that there’s been no significant response from Russia to the offensive. He said the Russian military usually “carpet bombs” cities, killing many civilians and nonmilitary targets, when they want to liberate territory. That’s difficult to do with Russian land, he said.

“That’s what they did in Ukraine. They did that in Syria. They did that in Chechnya. They can’t do that on their own territory. And therefore, I think Putin faces a real dilemma. How is he going to liberate this territory? So far, he has no answer.”