Although both Russia and Ukraine agreed, through U.S. mediation, to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days, both sides have continued to carry out deep strikes on each other's territory. According to Kunnas, this shows that the agreement has had little practical benefit, and if it had, it would have been more advantageous to Russia.

"It would actually be more beneficial for the Russian side if they managed to impose a moratorium on energy infrastructure attacks, as Ukraine has carried out several successful strikes on Russian oil facilities in recent months. This has certainly had a negative impact on Russia's financial and economic situation. However, Ukraine is likely trying to achieve a moratorium covering all civilian infrastructure. In practice, we have seen no real progress in that direction," Kunnas said.

This week, Ukraine successfully struck Russia's Engels military airfield, and it was not the first time such an attack had been carried out. At the same time, it is clear that Ukraine's capability for deep strikes has rapidly advanced, Kunnas noted.

"Ukraine's drones, including long-range ones, have seen the introduction of new models, they are continuously improving and they are now able to control them more effectively. If we compare Ukraine's deep-strike capability at the start of the full-scale war to now, we see that Ukraine has caught up with Russia and, in some aspects, even surpassed it. At the beginning of the war, Ukraine lacked this capability, meaning it has since developed its long-range drone capacity and nearly all of its strikes are now carried out using these drones," Kunnas explained.

As a broader observation, he added that Ukraine has resourcefully made the most of its smaller resources compared to Russia.

"Ukraine is highly focused on technological solutions, constantly seeking innovations, especially in the field of unmanned systems. Initially, this was mostly in the air, but now we are seeing increasing developments at sea and on land as well. Without exaggeration, Ukraine is currently a world leader in this area," Kunnas said.

Kursk operation not over yet

Although Russia has declared that it has recaptured the portion of Kursk Oblast that was taken by Ukrainian forces, the operation is not yet over from Ukraine's perspective, Kunnas noted.

"Ukraine still holds approximately 80 square kilometers of territory there. Additionally, there is a fairly large area that is not firmly under the control of either side, so we could be talking about around 100 square kilometers in total," Kunnas said.

Although this area is small compared to last August, when Ukrainian forces surprised the Russians with an incursion and seized 1,300 square kilometers, it cannot be said that the operation is over, he added.

Regarding the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Kursk, Kunnas noted that this is one of the most complex military operations. While Ukraine lost both equipment and personnel in the process, he assessed the outcome as satisfactory.

Why the Ukrainians carried out this operation now remains a mystery, but given the timing, it could suggest some kind of political agreement, Kunnas speculated.

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