Ukraine’s incursion – where does it go from here?

“The most striking thing about this incursion,” said a senior British military source who asked not to be named, “is how well the Ukrainians mastered combined arms warfare, deploying everything from air defence to electronic warfare as well as armour and infantry. It’s impressive.”

The Ukrainians also appear to have used some of the modern Western-supplied weaponry – like the German Marder and other armoured vehicles – rather more effectively than they did in last year’s failed summer offensive to push the Russian army out of Ukraine’s south-eastern provinces.

So where does Ukraine’s foray into Russia go from here?

There will be those on the more cautious end of the spectrum who will argue that Ukraine has already made its point, that Putin’s war of choice must now bring some pain to Russians, that despite recent setbacks on the battlefield in the Donbas, Ukraine has shown itself capable of mounting a sophisticated, combined arms assault using all the elements of modern warfare.

In other words, withdraw now with honour, having given the Kremlin a bloody nose, before Russia brings in enough forces to kill or capture the invading Ukrainians.