Editorial: The New York Times

• Ukraine's earlier incursion into Russia is a dubious gamble in purely military terms.
• The more significant potential of the invasion is on the information, propaganda, morale, image, and competing narratives front.
• Ukraine's invocation of Kursk, where the invasion took place, is significant due to its historical Soviet triumph and submarine disaster.
• Zelensky has leveraged Russia's flaccid response to strengthen his calls for the abandonment of the 'red lines' set by Western allies.
• Putin's propaganda has portrayed the conflict as a war by Western powers against Russia, but Ukraine's intrusions have debunked this stance.
• Putin has avoided acknowledging the war outright, using old KGB tactics to maintain control over information.
• Despite demands for a harsh revenge from bloggers, Putin maintains the stance 'We have everything under control'.
• Public opinion is difficult to gauge in Russia, but there are signs of discontent on social media.

Conclusion: The information front is crucial in the conflict and any operation that disrupts Putin's narrative is a victory for Ukraine.

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