[Goose]

Apparently Ukraine is setting up an administrative center in occupied Kursk...not sure what to make of that.  Ploy?  

Reports from the Ukrainian Donbas front indicate that they've been receiving fewer resources (due to resources going to Kursk) and consequently not doing as well against the Russian advance.  Zero-sum game :(

Here's a *very* optimistic, high-level analysis.  It mentions that Ukraine is cutting off one of the major rail lines supplying the eastern front Russian advance and potentially interdicting another.
I don't think we'll see Russian military units marching on Moscow, however lol.
https://realcontextnews.com/kursk-belgor...ts-sleeve/

Indeed Ukraine has cut the two rail lines that are on the map. One of the very first things I did when the reports of the offensive came in was look at the logistics situation for both Russia and Ukraine. Bottom line, the railroads Ukraine has cut go nowhere except the local area. That doesn't mean they are totally unimportant but they are very much secondary branch lines. As others have pointed out, the area involved is mostly forested with few roads. It is a logistics nightmare for both sides. Undoubtedly that contributed to the Russian expectation that Ukraine would not stage a major operation in this area. However, the railroads in question matter little in terms of "through traffic". There isn't any, to the Kharkiv front or anywhere else. What is of interest regarding Russian rail is that many lines from Belarus are closed to freight because the Russian army is using them at capacity to bring troops and supplies into the Kursk  battle area. Apparently traffic is seriously impacted.  https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/...?gdpr=deny Another view of this, perhaps a bit more biased:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideo...ed_by_the/ This later link shows a complete map that illustrates that the area Ukraine occupies is basically "the end of the line". There is a rail link from Ukraine, but I suspect that line as been out of service for years :-).

[Goose]

Apparently Ukraine is setting up an administrative center in occupied Kursk...not sure what to make of that.  Ploy?  

Reports from the Ukrainian Donbas front indicate that they've been receiving fewer resources (due to resources going to Kursk) and consequently not doing as well against the Russian advance.  Zero-sum game :(

Here's a *very* optimistic, high-level analysis.  It mentions that Ukraine is cutting off one of the major rail lines supplying the eastern front Russian advance and potentially interdicting another.
I don't think we'll see Russian military units marching on Moscow, however lol.
https://realcontextnews.com/kursk-belgor...ts-sleeve/

Indeed Ukraine has cut the two rail lines that are on the map. One of the very first things I did when the reports of the offensive came in was look at the logistics situation for both Russia and Ukraine. Bottom line, the railroads Ukraine has cut go nowhere except the local area. That doesn't mean they are totally unimportant but they are very much secondary branch lines. As others have pointed out, the area involved is mostly forested with few roads. It is a logistics nightmare for both sides. Undoubtedly that contributed to the Russian expectation that Ukraine would not stage a major operation in this area. However, the railroads in question matter little in terms of "through traffic". There isn't any, to the Kharkiv front or anywhere else. What is of interest regarding Russian rail is that many lines from Belarus are closed to freight because the Russian army is using them at capacity to bring troops and supplies into the Kursk  battle area. Apparently traffic is seriously impacted.  https://www.railfreight.com/railfreight/...?gdpr=deny Another view of this, perhaps a bit more biased:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideo...ed_by_the/ This later link shows a complete map that illustrates that the area Ukraine occupies is basically "the end of the line". There is a rail link from Ukraine, but I suspect that line as been out of service for years :-).