Syrskyi calls 2024 Kursk offensive a "necessity," defends decision not to reinforce Pokrovsk
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi told the BBC Ukrainian service that Ukraine's 2024 offensive into Russia's Kursk region was a necessary and successful maneuver that halted Russian advances on most fronts and lifted troop morale. He acknowledged, however, that Russian forces still advanced rapidly toward Pokrovsk during the same period.
Key points
- Syrskyi described the Kursk operation as a "necessity" in an interview with the BBC Ukrainian service published on 13 October.
- He said the decision to mount the offensive was approved by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Within a month, Ukrainian Defence Forces took control of 1,273 square kilometres of Russian territory, according to Syrskyi.
- He said Russia was forced to halt its offensive on all operational-strategic directions except the Pokrovsk direction.
- Russia redeployed about 70,000 personnel — including airborne troops, marines and best-trained motorized rifle units — to the Kursk direction.
- Russia concentrated an almost 100,000-strong force on the Pokrovsk direction, which Syrskyi described as two directions: Dobropillia and Pokrovsk.
- Syrskyi assessed that deploying the Kursk brigades to Pokrovsk would not have changed the situation there, while a BBC journalist noted Russian forces advanced rapidly toward Pokrovsk during the operation.
Why it matters
The interview offers an on-the-record justification from Ukraine's former top military commander for the controversial choice to launch an offensive into Russia's Kursk region instead of reinforcing the embattled Pokrovsk direction. It puts concrete figures on the force balance — roughly 100,000 Russian troops concentrated near Pokrovsk versus about 70,000 Russia pulled toward Kursk — and acknowledges simultaneous Russian advances toward Pokrovsk, keeping open the strategic debate over the operation's costs and benefits.
What happened
In an interview with the BBC Ukrainian service published on 13 October, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi defended the 2024 Kursk offensive as a "necessity" approved by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said that within a month Ukrainian Defence Forces had taken control of 1,273 square kilometres of Russian territory and that Russia had been forced to halt offensives on all operational-strategic directions except Pokrovsk. To counter the Kursk thrust, according to Syrskyi, Russia redeployed about 70,000 personnel — including airborne troops, marines and its best-trained motorized rifle units. At the same time, Russia concentrated an almost 100,000-strong grouping on the Pokrovsk direction, which Syrskyi described as two directions, Dobropillia and Pokrovsk. He argued that the brigades used in Kursk were in no condition to have changed the situation at Pokrovsk, and said the operation significantly boosted Ukrainian morale and gave forces time to regroup. A BBC journalist pointed out that during the same period Russian forces advanced rapidly toward Pokrovsk.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Both Ukrainian outlets covering the interview centre the Ukrainian military leadership's own narrative, presenting Syrskyi directly justifying the Kursk operation. They foreground the operational success — territorial gains, halted Russian offensives, a morale lift — along with the strategic reasoning for not reinforcing Pokrovsk, and neither outlet takes a critical or adversarial line.
Where reporting differs
The two Ukrainian outlets covering the interview use different transliterations of the speaker's surname ("Syrsky" and "Syrskyi") and place slightly different emphasis on what the Kursk operation achieved versus what it cost at Pokrovsk, but their underlying factual claims about troop numbers, territorial gains and the Russian advance on Pokrovsk do not conflict.
Background
The interview was published on 13 October. The Kursk offensive was approved by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Syrskyi. Russia is reported to have stepped up offensive operations in summer 2024 across all 13 operational directions after increasing pay and troop numbers. The Sumy/Kursk direction was chosen in part because Russian forces there had reportedly been withdrawn toward Kharkiv during an unsuccessful Russian offensive, leaving a relatively weak border defence manned largely by conscripts.