Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian military forces are actively operating within Russ🔯ia's Kursk region.
This announcement was made in a pꦡost on Telegram, where Zelenskyy highlighted and praised the efforts of the Ukrainian soldiers a꧋nd commanders. He reportedly was impressed by their "steadfastness and decisive actions.”
He did not elaborate further on the military in🐬cursion.
He mentioned that Ukraine plans to provide humanitarian aid to the region, adding ⭕that government officials have been told to create a plan for d🧸elivering this aid.
What Did Russia Say?
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday spoke about the Ukr꧒ainian army's move into the Kursk region, which he claimed has forced over 100,000 civilians to leave. He also alleged that it made the Kremlin look bad and is meant to interrupt Moscow's attacks in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region further stating that it was done to gain an advantage in any future peace talks.
Russian forces are stil🔥l trying to respond to the unexpected Ukrainian attack after nearly a week of intense fighting. Despite this, Putin said he is confident that Moscow's army will succeed.
Putin said the attack that began on Aug 6 appeared to reflect Kyiv's attempt to gai😼n a better negotiating position in possible future 🐭talks to end the war.
Putin also mentioned that Ukraine might have hoped the attack would stir up public 🌺unrest in Russia.ꦚ However, he said that hasn’t happened and claimed that the number of people volunteering to join the Russian military has actually gone up because of the attack.
He added that Russian forces 🅠will carry on with their offensive in𒉰 eastern Ukraine regardless.
The governor of the Belgorod regꦅion adjacent to Kursk also ಞannounced the evacuation of people from a district near the Ukrainian border.
According to an Associated Press report🍰, the Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of S༒udzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas station.
The Ukrainian operation is under tiꦚght secrecy, and its goals remain unclear, especially whether Kyiv's forces aim to hold territory or to stage hit-and-run raids.
Th꧋e stunning maneuver that caught the Kremlin's forces off guard counters Russia's unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defenses at selected points along the front line in eastern Ukraine, reported AP.
(With AP inputs)
