Former NATO commander: Kursk offensive clearly proved that Ukrainian army can win without Western advice

The former commander of NATO forces in Europe, General Philip M. Breedlove, said that Ukraine's successful incursion into Russia's Kursk region showed that it could conduct complex military operations without relying on Western advice.

As Business Insider writes, Ukrainian troops crossed the border with Russia on August 6, making a very risky move that differed from the previous strategy to deal with the Russian invasion. General Breedlove says he considers the Ukraine operation a success.

In my words, the move will have resonance beyond the territory itself, creating big problems for Russian President Vladimir Putin about how ordinary Russians view their leaders and military. This shows how Ukraine can achieve such great victories without much interference from the West.

The general stated that "the invasion was carried out without much direction from the West and look how well it worked". The attack on the Kursk region appears to have been carried out without prior information to the Western partners.

Breedlove, who is also a retired US Air Force general, compared Ukraine's success at Kursk to its major counter-offensive last year, when Ukraine failed to retake huge swaths of territory.

He believes that during this counteroffensive, the West and other partners have imposed many restrictions on Ukraine. The general believes that Ukraine would have been more successful if it had been as brave as it was in the Kursk region.

"I believe that if Ukraine had been able to use a similar initiative last year, we would have had a different result,”, he says.

Western Red Lines

While Western countries have given billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, they have also imposed restrictions on their use, which has proved a disappointment to Ukrainians. Initially, Ukraine was not allowed to use any Western weapons against targets in Russia, allowing the latter to freely deploy its weapons along the border. This restriction was eased in May.

But many allies, including the United States, still bar Ukraine from using long-range weapons in Russia, limiting Ukraine's ability to strike its most valuable targets there.

Breedlove believes that Western politicians have restricted Ukraine because Putin has convinced them that if Ukraine wins, "it will have huge consequences”.

"The most successful weapon that Putin has in this war is intimidation, or in military terms, his ability to limit the actions of the West with his threats... I believe that this war will end exactly the way it which western politicians want. At the moment, Western politicians are morally or intellectually incapable of understanding what a Ukrainian victory would mean. "Putin has been defeated, the Russian army has been defeated," Breedlove said.

He added that Western restrictions on Ukraine must change: "If Ukraine can strike the delivery of Russian equipment and personnel before they reach Ukraine, I think Ukraine can win this war.

Breedlove believes it is too early to say for sure whether Kursk was a major strategic success, although he believes it was.

The general added that during this invasion, Ukraine was "dictating the terms of this battle,", a stark contrast to much of the war.