Estonian expert: Ukraine captured such important people in Kursk that Russia wants quick swap

Ukraine's military has managed to capture significant military personnel or officials in the Kursk region, sparking Russia's interest in arranging a swift exchange, writes Estonian security expert Rainer Saks.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, who also oversees issues related to prisoners of war, reported that since the onset of the Kursk operation, Russia has repeatedly activated communication channels to negotiate prisoner exchanges. In past years, Ukraine had to take the initiative in such exchanges. The ombudsman also highlighted how the topic of prisoners of war is weaponized in Russia's hybrid warfare against Ukraine.

"I need to slightly revise my earlier stance, where I regarded Russia’s media focus on prisoners of war entirely as propaganda. Information from Ukraine’s ombudsman indicates that Ukraine's military has indeed captured key military personnel or officials in the Kursk region, whose quick release Russia is eager to negotiate," Saks noted.

Meanwhile, Russian Army Chief of Staff General Valery Gerasimov claimed that Ukraine lost 42,000 soldiers and 1,800 tanks and armored vehicles in the battles around Kursk. However, Ukraine has never deployed such large forces in the Kursk region, and it is doubtful whether it possesses such a quantity of tanks overall.

Russia often describes Ukraine’s army as poorly equipped and weak, yet when discussing Ukrainian losses, they inflate the numbers excessively, portraying it as a vast and well-equipped military force. This contradiction does not seem to bother the media or, apparently, the Russian public.

Notably, Gerasimov stated that Ukraine's advance had been halted but avoided mentioning the "liberation" of the Kursk region. This suggests that, in the view of Russia's military command, recent Ukrainian offensives in the Kursk region have not achieved substantial success, nor is quick progress anticipated.