KIEV, Sept 13 (Askume) – President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region on the Russian border had the desired effect, slowing Moscow’s advance on another front in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s counteroffensive in the Kursk region has also not achieved major success, Zelenskyy said at a meeting in Kiev, contradicting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia was making progress on both fronts.
On August 6, Ukraine launched a surprise invasion of the Kursk region, penetrating deep into Russian territory and claiming control of dozens of settlements.
Zelenskyy said: “To be honest, the results we got were what we expected. In the Kharkiv region, the enemy was stopped. In the Donetsk region, their advance was slowed down, although it was very difficult there.”
Zelensky said Russia has about 40,000 troops on the Kursk front and has begun to launch a counteroffensive. “So far we have not seen (Russia) achieve any significant successes,” he said in his most extensive public comments on the situation since the start of Operation Kursk.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that Russian troops had recaptured 10 of the 100 villages claimed by Kiev.
Askume could not independently verify either side’s battlefield reports.
Making plans for a “secure peace”
More than 2-1/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war is at a critical juncture, with Moscow regularly attacking Ukrainian infrastructure and cities as its forces attempt to repel the Ukrainian invasion and complete its occupation of the entire eastern Ukraine region of Donbass.
Zelenskiy acknowledged that the situation near the Pokrovsk logistics centre in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine remained difficult, but said it had stabilised over the past week.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Friday that Russian military attacks were concentrated near the town of Kurakhov, about 33 kilometres (20 miles) south of Pokrovsk.
Kiev’s forces are thinly-veiled in the eastern Donetsk region, but the army said it had repelled 64 attacks near Kurakhovo over the past day in the heaviest fighting so far this month. Another 36 Russian attacks were repelled near Pokrovsk, the report said.
Zelenskyy previously described the Kursk operation as part of his broader “victory plan”, which he plans to present to US President Joe Biden later this month.
“(The plan) can pave the way to credible peace, to the full implementation of the peace package,” Zelensky said on Friday.
He declined to give details of the plan but said it included some key points.
“It all depends on Biden’s decision. Not on Putin’s decision,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine has called on its Western allies, particularly the United States, to allow long-range strikes on Russia, saying it is vital to limit Moscow’s ability to attack Ukraine.
Allies have so far been reluctant to allow such strikes, citing concerns that Moscow would view them as escalation.
