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Ukraine’s shock incursion into Russia’s Kursk region did not come as a complete surprise to the Russian military.
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Russian MP Andrei Gurillev said the military had been warned of the attack a month ago.
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“But from above came the order not to panic and that those above know better,” he said.
Ukraine took the world by surprise by attacking Russia’s Kursk region last week, but a Russian lawmaker says the country’s military knew about the planned incursion a month before it happened.
“But from above came the order not to panic, and those above know better,” Andrey Gurulyov, a member of the State Duma and retired major general, told military expert Vladislav Shurygin in a television interview broadcast on August 8, according to a translation by The New York Times.
The Russian military, Gurulyov said, was informed about Ukraine’s plans for Kursk about a month ago.
The former army officer said the military leadership had received an intelligence report warning of an imminent attack by the Ukrainians.
Ukraine launched a shock offensive in the Kursk region on August 6. The complex, surprise attack was a resounding success for the troubled country, which found itself caught off guard after Congress delayed more than $60 billion in aid.
The Ukraine aid bill was finally passed in April after months of back-and-forth.
On Monday, Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the military had captured nearly 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in just a few days. That’s roughly the amount of Ukrainian territory Russia has captured this year.
This is not the first time that Gurulyov has criticized the Russian military leadership for its poor strategy and incompetence on the battlefield.
In September, Gurulyov said in a Telegram message that the military was using lies and false information to downplay Ukraine’s achievements during its failed battle against Russia.
“Victory is separated from us only by one serious problem: lies. True, there are fewer of them than at the beginning of the special military operation, but they are there,” Gurulyov wrote, using this euphemism for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“False information unfortunately leads to bad decisions on many levels. It exists, let’s admit it and fight it, otherwise it will be a disaster,” he added.
Representatives from the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of normal business hours.
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