It may have just been a matter of opportunity, too. You can bet the Ukrainians have a lot of eyes in Russia, and will be able to see if they leave a flank open.
Ukraine struggles to repel the constant attacks on the eastern front so by attacking Russia in the north, it forces them to move troops from elsewhere thus making them to stop the attacks due to lack of manpower and go on defence instead. This eases the pressure on the Ukrainian defenders.
This newly acquired land is also something they can use to trade back parts of their own land if and when the peace negotitations start.
It also further diminishes the credibility of the Russian army and leadership.
They’re probably tired of being used just as a customer for the military industrial complex and want to go back to their normal lives. They also probably have a ton of intel on the enemy’s weaknesses to shut putin and his cronies down.
I hope they succeed at the earliest.
The USA and others said no.
I still find that insane.
“Russia has been attacking us for 2 years. We’re going to attack back.” “No, don’t do that. That will escalate things.” “Oh cool, I guess we’ll just keep taking it.”
Slight distinction, though maybe not so much a practical one: it was more “Don’t do that with our weapons, Russia will get mad at us, instead of just you.”
Russia is/was good fighting Ukraine from ‘behind the fence’ with heavy weapons. Ukraine got tired to be kept on short leash and not able to fight back. Right?