Zelenskyy: Ukraine holds buffer zone in Russia's Kursk Oblast five months into operation there

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Monday, 6 January, that Ukraine continues to maintain a buffer zone in Russia's Kursk Oblast five months after launching the operation.

Source: Zelenskyy in an evening address on 6 January

Quote: "Second – the Kursk operation. Today marks exactly five months since the start of our actions in Kursk Oblast, and we continue to maintain a buffer zone on Russian territory, actively destroying Russian military potential there. Since the beginning of the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost over 38,000 troops in this area alone, including approximately 15,000 irrecoverable losses. The Russians have deployed their strong units to Kursk Oblast. Soldiers from North Korea are involved there."

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the Russians cannot direct all this force to other areas, particularly to Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv or Zaporizhzhia fronts.

The Ukrainian president also convened a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff and heard a separate report from Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of Ukraine's General Staff.

Quote: "First – the defence of our frontline positions, with a primary focus on Pokrovsk. I am grateful to all the brigades and every warrior currently stationed there. We discussed brigade staffing and rotations. The army needs more internal, systemic changes to ensure effective personnel management at all levels of the defence forces. There were also detailed reports from the responsible commanders regarding the formation and training of our brigades."

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