According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian troops have so far made little progress in their attempts to recapture the Kursk region. “They wanted to break through there quickly. (…) We have not seen any serious successes so far,” said the head of state during an appearance in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Moscow intends to deploy 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers in the sector. Currently, around 40,000 are concentrated there. “Our military are holding up heroically and are doing everything necessary for our other military-political steps,” said Zelensky, without going into details.
At the beginning of August, Ukrainian troops entered the Russian border region near Kursk and, according to their own statements, brought around 1,300 square kilometers and about 100 villages, including the small town of Sudscha, under control. Observers assume that the gains in territory were smaller.
This week, the Russian military made the first serious attempt to expel the Ukrainian troops. Although the commander of the Chechen special unit Akhmat, Major General Apti Alaudinov, initially reported on his Telegram channel of alleged great successes, there has been no confirmation so far.
Selenskyj: Russia had to move troops
Zelensky was therefore satisfied overall with the results of the operation so far. “The enemy has been stopped in the Kharkiv region, and their advance in the Donetsk region has been slowed down,” the president stressed. Moscow had to move forces from the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv and the south to the Kursk sector. “The advance (of the Russians) in the Pokrovsk sector, as well as in the east as a whole, was even faster before the Kursk operation,” said Zelensky. According to him, Ukraine has forestalled attacks by the Russian army in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy and also in the neighboring region of Chernihiv.
With Western help, Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for over two and a half years. A good fifth of Ukrainian territory is under Russian control.
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