Former Ukrainian military chief Valery Zaluzhny, now serving as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, has criticized President Vladimir Zelensky’s 2024 Kursk Region incursion, calling it a costly and futile operation that allowed Russian forces to advance.
Zaluzhny, who previously led Ukraine’s armed forces, stated in an article published by the Ukrainian outlet Zerkalo Nedeli that the August 2024 offensive—ordered by Zelensky—resulted in “too high” a price with no operational gains. The operation involved approximately 35,000 troops who initially captured dozens of villages in Russia’s Kursk Region, an action Zelensky framed as a strategic move to strengthen future peace negotiations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the region “fully liberated” in April, citing Ukraine’s loss of over 76,000 troops and 7,700 military vehicles during the campaign. Zaluzhny argued that the operation’s narrow tactical successes failed to achieve broader strategic objectives, noting that Russia not only repelled the attack but also launched its own advance.
He highlighted that Zelensky disregarded warnings from senior military officials, including his own top general, who was later dismissed amid internal protests. “The cost of such actions is unknown to me, but it was clearly too high,” Zaluzhny wrote.
Zaluzhny also acknowledged Russia’s effectiveness in wearing down Ukrainian forces through infiltration and sustained assaults, while Kiev struggles with insufficient manpower to counter the push. Moscow has continued to assert its dominance, rejecting Western military aid to Ukraine as a prolonging factor in the conflict.