Russian General Lapin dissolved Defense Council of Kursk region in spring, and this worked in favour of AFU - WSJ
This spring, Colonel-General of the Russian Army Alexander Lapin, who was supposed to monitor security in the Kursk region, dissolved the council to oversee the protection of this border region. Because of this, a gap in defense was formed on the border with Russia, which was used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Kursk operation.
As Censor.NET informs, the Wall Street Journal writes about it.
According to the publication, Ukrainian forces caught the Russians by surprise and unprepared during the offensive in the Kursk region.
The WSJ notes that Lapin did not "open the gates" to attack this region himself - there was a critical shortage of people in this direction. However, his mistake is typical of the top leadership, which is often detached from the realities of the battlefield, the publication emphasizes.
It is not known whether the interagency council dissolved by Lapin, which included military officers and representatives of local and regional security agencies, would have helped organize a coordinated response from Moscow. But without a centralized body responsible for Russia's response, the Kremlin's efforts to push out Ukrainian forces have so far been chaotic and ineffective.
This has led to Russian law enforcement agencies such as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, as well as the Russian Ministry of Defense, trying to independently respond to the border breach.
According to Russian war correspondents, a few days before Ukraine's invasion of the Russian Federation, Lapin's command sent reports to Moscow warning that Ukrainian troops were increasing their numbers on the front line. But the ploy has been used by both sides before as a psychological warfare tactic, say Russians familiar with the border maneuvers. Therefore, Moscow rejected the warnings of Lapin.
When Ukrainian troops entered the no-man's land between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, they met no resistance, and there were no territorial defense forces inside Russia to help slow them down. The first to meet them were conscripts from the 488th Motorized Rifle Regiment and 144th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who were not supposed to fight.
Under normal circumstances, they would have about 120 units of armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers. However, in their first armed conflict, the conscripts probably had 10 to 20 units.
The WSJ also mentions that this is not the first time Lapin has failed. It was he who led a group of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region in September 2022, when Ukrainian troops liberated almost the entire region in a little more than a week.
Currently, Lapin heads the Leningrad Military District.
