2024-08-13 10:25:39
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed today that Ukrainian military forces are operating on the territory of Russia’s Kursk region, the Associated Press reported.
Zelensky did so in a post on his Telegram channel, in which he praised the country’s soldiers and commanders “for their steadfastness and decisive actions,” without giving further details about the invasion.
He suggested Ukraine would offer humanitarian aid to the region, saying government officials had been tasked with preparing a humanitarian plan for the territory.
Earlier today, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Colonel-General Oleksandr Sirsky, said that Kiev controls about 1,000 square kilometers of Russia’s Kursk region, Reuters reported.
For its part, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said Russia was trying to unfairly accuse Kiev’s forces of war crimes amid its continued incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. On its Telegram channel, the SSU wrote that it has information that shows that Russia could stage attacks that it could blame on Ukraine, BTA reported.
Kursk Oblast Governor Alexei Smirnov said Ukrainian forces used chemical weapons shells during their incursion there, Russian state media reported. It is unclear whether Smirnov has provided any evidence to support the allegation, which Reuters was unable to verify through an independent source.
Russian forces continue to struggle to repel the biggest incursion into Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.
Smirnov said during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian forces had taken control of 28 settlements in the Kursk region, and that Kiev troops had entered 12 km into Russian territory, Reuters noted.