HMM: Ukraine’s top commander defends Kursk offensive.

Syrskyi told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the Kursk operation “reduced the threat of an enemy offensive” and prevented a Russian attack, saying Moscow had amassed tens of thousands of troops in the region, including experienced airborne ones.

He also said that Ukrainian forces have stalled the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, including around the strategic railroad town of Pokrovsk.

“Over the last six days the enemy hasn’t advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working,” he said. “We’ve taken away their ability to maneuver and to deploy their reinforcement forces from other directions … and this weakening has definitely been felt in other areas.”

ISW, which relies on open sources of information, reported Thursday that Russia was making modest advances in the direction of Pokrovsk.

Whatever you want to call Kyiv’s Kursk operation, it remains up in the air whether it will prove to be a benefit or a blunder.