After weeks of deliberation, Russia started a counteroffensive in Kursk. The Ukrainian incursion into that oblast, brilliant in its design and execution, threatens to turn into a “winning a battle and losing the war” classic.

Russia has launched a counteroffensive in its Kursk region to dislodge Ukraine's forces who stormed across the border five weeks ago.

Ukraine’s incursion – which began more than two years after Russia launched a full-scale military assault on its neighbour – caught Moscow off-guard. It is the biggest incursion by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II.