At the start of August, Ukraine seemed doomed to remain on the defensive, slowly but relentlessly being ground into retreat by Russian onslaughts. But its successful new Kursk offensive has done more than seize 480 square miles of Russian territory and humiliate Putin. After nearly a year of a grim defensive battle, the Kursk operation has also allowed Ukraine to seize the initiative and force Moscow to dance to Kyiv's tune. The Russians no longer hold the initiative across the entirety of the theater, like they have for most of last year." Which means Ukraine has to find some economical way of keeping up the pressure on Russia, without losing more territory of its own.

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Persons: Putin, George Barros, Barros, Vladimir Putin, " Barros, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Defense, Foreign Policy, Rutgers Univ, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Kursk, Moscow, Donetsk, Russia, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Polohy, Zaporizhia, Zabrama, Bryansk, Belgorod, Forbes