Photo: President Volodymyr Zelensky (Vitaliy Nosach, RBC-Ukraine) Author: Natalia Kava
The Russian Federation wants to oust Ukrainian troops from the territory of the Kursk region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding back 64 thousand occupiers there.
As reported by RBC-Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this during a briefing on Friday, April 4.
“Russia does not want a ceasefire. We see this and understand what it wants, what the next steps are, where their military is gathering, where the shooting is increasing, where the attacks are increasing, the offensives along the entire front line,” Zelensky noted.
According to him, there is now an increase in enemy attacks on the front, with about 200 of them every day. Despite the fact that bad weather has affected the actions of the Russians in recent days, their activity is being observed.
Zelensky also said that Russia wants to push Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region. After all, the Russians need “successes” for their “symbolic dates” in May.
“They want to completely push us out of the Kursk region, but everyone again understands and confirms that we are there. There is no encirclement, we are in the Kursk region. And our presence is not only in the Kursk region,” the president said.
In his opinion, the Kursk operation is quite important, because it allowed some Russian troops to be pulled away from other areas of the front in Ukraine.
“They want to show victorious steps, but for now we are going there and keeping a large number of troops. 64 thousand Russians in the Kursk direction of their troops. This is a very serious grouping, which could be in other directions, the guys there are great,” he said.
The situation in the Kursk region
Last year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an operation in the Kursk region. During the fighting, Ukrainian troops took control of about a hundred settlements in the region.
The aim of the operation was to prevent a repeat Russian offensive into the eastern and northern regions of Ukraine.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia has already lost 40 thousand soldiers in the six months of the Kursk operation. Russia also attracted DPRK soldiers to fight in the Kursk region. This year, the Russians began to recruit DPRK soldiers for fighting in the Kursk region.
Subsequently, the Russians spread rumors that Ukrainian troops were allegedly surrounded, but the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky denied this information.
Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Roman Kostenko told RBC-Ukraine that the situation in Kursk Oblast remains grave. The Russians have brought in reserves and North Korean soldiers to attack the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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