Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov was conspicuously absent from an emergency Security Council meeting held by President Vladimir Putin on Friday, raising further questions as he faces mounting criticism over Ukraine's surprise incursion into the western Kursk region.
Armed Ukrainians can be seen making their Russian enemies hand themselves over "en masse" with their hands behind their heads as the battle for Kursk enters its sixth day.
The Kremlin has likely opted to declare a counterterrorism operation (CTO) regime instead of martial law to downplay the scale of the incursion into Kursk Oblast and to avoid causing panic or backlash domestically.
Vladimir Putin has been forced to call in reserve troops to tackle what Moscow is calling a “counter-terrorism operation”
