Welcome to the President's Inbox, a CFR podcast about the foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

I'm Jim Lindsay, Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This week's topic is Ukraine's attack on Kursk.

With me to discuss Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russia earlier this month is Leanna Fix.

Leanna is a fellow for Europe at the Council.

Her research focuses on European security, transatlantic relations in Russia.

Along with Michael Kimmage, she is the author of the popular Ukraine Scenario

Series at Foreign Affairs Magazine. Her most recent piece written for Survival Magazine is

NATO and Ukraine, the peril of indecision. Liana, thank you for coming back on the president's

inbox. Thanks so much for the invitation, Jim.

So let's do a scene center here, Liana.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces attacked Russia, and the region known as Kursk, a scene for

people who remember there were World War II history of the largest land battle in world history, a turning point in the course of the

Second World War. The attack seems to have succeeded. Ukrainian forces seem to hold something in the

order of 500 square miles of Russian territory. Why did Kiev send Ukrainian troops into Russia for the first time in the war?

So there are multiple reasons to that. I mean, first there's a military reason. Ukraine

has been under pressure on the Eastern Front by Russia for a long time now. Russia is advancing

on Ukraine's Eastern Front. Russia has sacked. Russia has recently sacked the village of New York in

Ukraine.

And the idea from a military perspective is to divert Russian forces and sort of to bring them

back from the Ukrainian frontline, from the eastern Ukrainian frontline into Russia.

Has that worked?

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