‘The Kursk operation has become normalized:’ As Ukraine’s Russia incursion enters third month, Putin is trying to downplay it

Russia has deployed a reasonably large number of troops – estimated at 40,000 – to defend and counterattack in Kursk, but analyst Mark Galeotti described the initial force as “built from wherever they can find,” with Russia using conscripts and reservists at the outset of the incursion. “This is equivalent to sort of scramping around your sofa cushions to find some small change,” Galeotti, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank, told CNN.