They swept into Russian towns and, after facing little resistance from Russian troops, kept going.

More than a week later, they control more than 1,000 kilometers of territory and have left Russia stunned.

This is a huge problem for Russia.

For the first time in more than 80 years, foreign troops are fighting on Russian soil.

Buildings destroyed allegedly by shelling, people fleeing the region.

Vladimir Putin described the attack as a major provocation.

The main task is to force the enemy from our territory.

It's an irony that we lost them very few here.

Ukraine's attack is one of the boldest moves it's made since the start of the war.

But it's far from over.

This was a huge risk, and I would say it still is a huge risk.

So why did Ukraine attack inside Russia?

And was it a stroke of genius or a dangerous mistake?

For most of 2024, Ukraine has had to play defense.

It's been using basically all the soldiers it has to prevent Russia from advancing past these front lines.

Even then, it was beginning to lose ground here in the east.

And the fighting was costly.

Ukraine was losing men, and those it had were exhausted.

Meanwhile, U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to cut aid to Ukraine if elected in November. 2024 seemed like a bad year for Ukraine.

Dan Byman was in Ukraine just a couple weeks ago.

People can really endure really a stunning amount of suffering and sacrifice.

But what they often need to sustain that is a sense that they have a chance of winning.

But Russia wasn't letting Ukraine get any wins in Ukraine.

It's been pouring soldiers into the front line and stacking them behind miles of trenches, minefields and fortifications.

But Russia has committed so many soldiers here that it hasn't left very many to defend its own soil.

Kursk is where Russia launches many of its air and artillery strikes from.

But the few soldiers it's ordered to guard it are mostly conscripts, men forced to join the military, briefly trained and paid very little.

The result is the best equipment, the best soldiers, they're all in Ukraine, not on the borders in Russia.

They're there precisely because Russia didn't think Ukraine would ever dare attack it.

Ukraine would need to pull troops to do it, which could make parts of its own front line vulnerable.

And Ukraine's allies have feared that an attack on Russian soil could lead Vladimir Putin to escalate.

But it was a place that Ukraine thought it could get a win.

A few weeks ago, it began secretly moving thousands of its best troops to the border and Russia didn't notice that on August 6, Ukraine rolled the dice and was soon glad it did.

Ukrainian forces stormed through the Russian border early on Tuesday.

At least 1,000 Ukrainian troops supported by tanks and armored vehicles.

Encountering little resistance.

When Ukrainian troops crossed, they quickly overwhelmed the Russian conscripts and took dozens of them prisoner.

In two days, it captured about 350 square kilometers and several villages.

Russia counterattacked with airstrikes, but Ukrainian troops kept advancing.

It disrupted Russian artillery strikes and has launched its own artillery and drone strikes even deeper into Russia.

As of August 16, Ukraine reportedly has taken control of over 80 settlements, probably more than it expected to.

I think Ukraine certainly hoped to achieve some of the benefits that they've gotten from this, but I'm sure they're pleasantly surprised by the poor Russian preparation and response so far.

Frankly, Russia was cognapping.

It's valuable territory, but it's the success of the attack that's giving Ukraine what it really wanted.

First, it's lending a much-needed boost of morale in Ukraine and signaling to its allies that it can still launch complex attacks.

Second, Ukraine is now forcing Russia to play defense.

Russia is evacuating these areas and, most importantly, moving soldiers from the front line to Kursk, which could relieve some of the pressure on Ukraine.

And third, this attack is undermining Putin's own narrative about the war.

It's impossible to tell your own people that everything's going great when your territory has been invaded, when you have what seems like pretty embarrassing military losses, when your conscripts are being captured.

Ukraine's attack has gone so well that some experts are speculating it could help it negotiate an end to the war.

Since 2022, Putin has said if Ukraine wants peace, it needs to give it all this land.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has refused, but hasn't had much to offer in return.

Back in 2022, most Ukrainians supported this stance.

But as the war drags on, the number of Ukrainians that support giving Russia some land in exchange for peace is growing, which could be putting pressure on Zelensky to negotiate.

Now by capturing this Russian territory, he could offer it to Russia in exchange for reducing the amount of Ukrainian land it's demanding.

And maybe strike a deal.

Do you have any idea what this land in Russia would be worth?

The idea that this could be traded for much seems far-fetched.

That is my instinct as well, is that yes, it could be traded for something, but probably not that much.

That said, land tends to kind of have some sort of sacred value, so it is possible.

But any talk of ending the war is premature, because this battle isn't over.

There are reports that Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine over the last few days.

If it were to take more and or inflict heavy casualties on Ukraine by counterattacking in Kursk, it would turn Ukraine's gamble into a costly mistake.

If you're a sports fan, right, it's like a risky play in football, where the coach is brilliant if the pass is caught.

And if it's not, you say, why did he make that play?

It's smart if it works.

Alright, I just spent the last two days doing this as fast as I could.

Today is Saturday, so hopefully it's about as up-to-date as I can make it.

Obviously this is something that's changing a lot every day, but I'm hoping to give you guys a good explanation of what's going on in the big picture.

And if you're new here, this is Search Party.

We cover geopolitics as well as sports.

Check out some of our older videos and please subscribe.

Other than that, we'll resume our normal programming in about a week.

Alright, thanks so much.