Ukraine says it kept its plans for the Kursk offensive secret even from the Pentagon. Here's why.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden
Zelenskyy defiantly explained why he didn't share details of the Kursk incursion with the West.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Zelenskyy said Ukraine told no one about the Kursk invasion because its allies would have called it 'unrealistic'

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking during an interview with French media in Rivne.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country did not inform their allies about the planned incursion on Kursk because it would have seemed "unrealistic" to them.

Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian soldiers suspected they would invade Russia when they got new rifles, but still thought it was a joke when the orders came through

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A Ukrainian soldier firing a machine gun at Russian drones.
"We joked that it wasn't April 1st. The commander just smiled, knowing we had no idea what was awaiting us," a Ukrainian soldier identified only by his first name, Serhiy, said of the orders to invade Russia, per The Economist.

Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images

Russia has likely diverted thousands of soldiers to counter Ukraine offensive, US officials say

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In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, soldiers sit in a military truck as a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of Kursk region of Russia. One solider waves at the camera.
Russia is moving troops to defend Kursk — though many are likely conscripts from within the country.

Ukraine kept the West in the dark about its invasion of Russia until after it struck: report

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Zelensky
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspects Ukrainian positions near Kharkiv in April 2024.

AP

Ukraine's attack took perfect advantage of Russia's internal dysfunction, where nobody was in charge

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In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, soldiers sit in a military truck as a column of the Russian Armed Forces move to build up forces conducting active combat operations with Ukrainian formations in the Sudzhansky district of Kursk region of Russia. One solider waves at the camera.
Russian soldiers being rushed to Kursk's Sudzhansky district during Ukraine's incursion.

Russia left 'mainly kids' and conscripts to defend its borders, Ukrainian soldier says after surprise attack

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ukraine troops
Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into Kursk last week.

ROMAN PILIPEY/Getty Images

Putin is giving cash to Russians fleeing Ukraine's surprise attack — but only $115

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President Vladimir Putin, left, sits at a desk, facing a screen for a video call with acting Kursk governor Alekey Smirnov as they discuss the Ukrainian incursion there, in a picture published by the Kremlin on August 8, 2024.
President Vladimir Putin discussing the unexpected incursion of Ukraine into the Kursk region in August, 2024.

Kremlin

It looks like Russia was massively unprepared for Ukraine's attack on its territory

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A view shows a damaged house following what local authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Sudzha in the Kursk Region, Russia, in this handout image released August 6, 2024
Russian officials released this handout image, saying it shows a destroyed house following Ukrainian attacks in the Kursk region.

ACTING GOVERNOR OF KURSK REGION ALEXEI SMIRNOV via Reters

Dramatic footage appears to show a Ukrainian missile taking out a prized Russian jet

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A composite image showing, left, a Russian Su-25 fighter jet, and right, a close-up screenshot from a video released by Ukrainian armed forces which they say shows a Su-25 being shot down.
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