In preparing for the war in Ukraine, Russian forces completed a number of strategic planning objectives, even before the first bullet, bomb, or drone was fired.
It’s rumoured it included plotting how to liberate a secret military base it had housed on an estate in the Kursk Oblast, where President Putin may have spent time planning the offensive.
The border region is hotly contested by Intelligence services because of its potential. It’s used for smuggling contacts, making rendezvous, and sneaking into either territory to begin extensive spying operations.
Russia keeps itself relatively still in normal times, meaning it has strength in staying power. The effort to dismantle a military outpost – setup for the President – would involve military action to disburse surveillance-based interest in the area.
The return of the President to Moscow isn’t a momentous day, but it would mark an achievement in military planning. Putin often talks about Ukraine and says he has a “sense of the air” of it, meaning his close watches involves more than monitoring CCTV footage.