Vladimir Putin has likely had the “Botox scared out of him” by Ukraine’s shock incursion into Russian territory, an expert claims.
Kyiv’s army made the surprise advance across the border into the Kursk region on August 6, catching Putin’s forces off-guard and prompting anger and confusion in Moscow.
Russian officials have said over 200,000 civilians were being evacuated from the area, as Ukrainian forces appear to be gaining more territory within the region in recent days.
Professor Anthony Glees of the University of Buckingham says the stunning blow will be a source of great anxiety for Putin.
“One week on and Zelenskyy’s masterful incursion into Russia is still going gangbusters,” he told The Daily Star. “Indeed, we’re told that the second advance towards Belgorod is also proceeding apace.
“This has, for sure, scared the botox out of Putin. He’s absolutely terrified and hasn’t the first idea of how to drive the Ukrainian crack troops out of his country other than by pulling his marauding troops out of the southeast of Ukraine and moving them to try to push Ukrainian forces out of Russia.
“The Russian people are not free to voice their true thoughts but they must be scared… as well. Putin is more than happy to dish it out to Ukraine but he does not like it being dished back at him.
“As that noted military analyst Lance Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army would point out ‘He does not like it up him,'” he added.
Professor Glees believes the advance gives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky more options as the country attempts to withstand the slow advance of the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022.
The academic continued: “Kyiv has bombed four Russian airfields, used to fire missiles at Ukraine, taken 100 Russian soldiers and claims to have shot down a Russian Su-34 jet fighter (cost $30m) a few hours ago.
“It looks as if Zelensky’s task force still have air cover. That’s highly significant. Is his aim to pull those Russian troops away from the front line where they were making small advances?
“Does he want to try to hold Kursk and Belgorod regions like the Israeli general Moshe Dayan took the Sinai desert in 1967 to use as a bargaining chip in any peace talks? Or will he get in, and then get out, and try it again somewhere else.
“US media are reporting that Putin is being forced to pull his troops away from the south, so leaving the Russian front line vulnerable and making it easier for Ukraine to push forward, with Crimea in their sights,” Prof Glees suggested.
The Security and Intelligence expert thinks Zelensky has Putin “by the short and curlies right now”.
“Might Putin be thinking of a peace offer? Mediated by China, perhaps? It’s not impossible,” he added. “But again, with Kamala Harris in the ascendancy, and Trump degenerating into ever greater barmyness, he can’t count on the US forcing Zelenskyy’s hand.
Prof Glees said the next day or two “should show us exactly what Putin’s next move is”.
Zelensky claims “there are 74 settlements under the control of Ukraine,” inside Russia – as his forces continue to strike airbases.
Washington-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War, estimated Ukraine’s advances at about 309sq miles based on satellite imagery and open source information.
Meanwhile Russian forces are estimated to have occupied some 454sq miles of Ukrainian territory since January.
Russian state media have called the Ukrainian incursions a “terrorist attack,” with some propagandists dismissing it as simply the “situation in Kursk’s borderlands.”
Putin vowed to “kick out the enemy”, but Ukraine looks set to advance further. Kyiv’s forces attacked a second border region in western Russia, according to the Russian governor of the territory.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladko, said the situation is “extremely difficult and tense” and that the Russians have suffered casualties there.
