Zelenskyy on Kursk Oblast operation: Ukrainian forces control 1,300 sq. km, Russia has lost over 6,000 troops
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has summed up the results of the first month of the Ukrainian operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast during a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format).
Source: broadcast of Zelenskyy's speech at the meeting
Quote from Zelenskyy: "Today marks one month since our army's operation began in the Kursk region of Russia. This is the borderland from which Putin was preparing to expand the war into Ukrainian territory. He was preparing to launch a new offensive against our city of Sumy. We have turned the tables and are pushing the war into Russia through our counteroffensive."
Details: The president revealed that Ukrainian forces currently control 1,300 sq. km of territory across over 100 settlements in Kursk Oblast.
"A significant part of this territory was abandoned by Russian troops. They simply fled when they saw our forces approaching," Zelenskyy said.
He also reported that Russia had lost approximately 6,000 soldiers (killed and wounded) during the first month of the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast.
Background:
- The operation in Kursk Oblast began on 6 August. On 10 August, on the fifth day of the Ukrainian army's offensive deep into Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine had brought the war to Russian territory.
- On 27 August, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that since the beginning of the operation in Kursk Oblast in Russia, Ukraine had captured 594 Russian soldiers and controlled more than 100 settlements, or 1,294 square kilometres.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that such actions are aimed at creating a buffer zone to prevent Russian military operations against Ukraine.
- Russian leader Vladimir Putin persistently continues to downplay the success of the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast, trying his best to convince Russian society that Ukraine’s control over 100 Russian settlements means nothing. However, on 5 September, he said that the "sacred duty" of Russian soldiers was to retake the part of Kursk Oblast that is currently controlled by the Ukrainian military.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia had redeployed 60,000 troops to Kursk Oblast from the war zone in Ukraine due to the success of the Kursk operation.
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