Ukrainian troops have been fighting in the Russian region of Kursk for almost two weeks. They have now expanded their offensive, according to their own statements. According to President Zelensky, the aim is to permanently weaken Russia.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian army has strengthened its positions during its offensive in the western Russian border region of Kursk. Army Chief of Staff Oleksandr Syrsky informed him about “the strengthening of the positions of our armed forces in the Kursk region and the expansion of the stabilized area,” Zelensky wrote on the X platform, among other places.
The army had already reported progress in the offensive on Friday. Moscow, however, again declared that the Ukrainian soldiers were being pushed back. This had now been achieved near three other towns, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.
Negotiation and weakening
According to information from Kiev, the move is intended, among other things, to persuade Russia to engage in a “fair negotiation process” in view of the Russian war in Ukraine. The captured territories are therefore intended to serve as bargaining chips in possible talks.
In addition, according to Zelensky, it is also about a sustainable weakening of the enemy army. Russia’s losses are “very useful” for the defense of Ukraine, he said in his evening video address. “It is about destroying the logistics of the Russian army and using up its reserves,” Zelensky explained. “We must inflict maximum damage on all Russian positions, and that is what we are doing.”
Ukraine destroys important bridge in Kursk region
During the offensive in Kursk, the Ukrainian Air Force recently destroyed a strategically important road bridge. Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk published a video on an armed forces Telegram channel showing the bombing of a bridge. After evaluating the geodata, experts believe the video is authentic. The structure on the Sejm River near the town of Glushkovo lay in ruins.
Map of Ukraine, hatched: areas occupied by Russia
This means that an important supply route for Russian troops has been destroyed. Russia had also previously reported that the bridge, which had been under fire from Ukrainian forces for days, had been destroyed. According to Russian media, this has cut off more than 30 towns in the border region with Ukraine from the rest of the area.
The advance in Kursk is Ukraine’s largest cross-border offensive since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression and the first by a foreign army on Russian soil since the end of World War II.
Conflicting parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent source.
