Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to mount a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said on August 28, RFE/RL reports.
"We can be certain that Putin will mount a counteroffensive to try to reclaim that territory," Cohen said at a national-security industry conference. "Our expectation is that that will be a difficult fight for the Russians." While Kyiv has said it has no intention of annexing the area it has captured, Ukrainian troops are building defensive lines and it appears that they intend to retain "some of that territory for some period of time," Cohen said at the conference held in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington.
