Irish Examiner view: The weight of history falls on Putin

Vladimir Putin: Tactically any Russian land that Ukraine can hold represents a better bargaining position. Picture: Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

In terms of scale, there is little to compare the events that have taken place in Kursk with those that preceded them in the same week 81 years earlier.

On August 3, 1943, the Red Army launched the second phase of an offensive against Nazi Germany which eventually became the largest single battle in the history of warfare.