Zelensky says Ukraine aims to create Russia’s Kursk ‘buffer zone’

Ukrainian forces are inching forward in Kursk amid fighting following the launch of their surprise military operation there nearly two weeks ago. But Ukraine also remains under pressure in its occupied east as Russian troops advance toward a key military hub.

The Kursk offensive has left Russia struggling to shore up its own territory. Kyiv seems to have multiple goals with the assault, from boosting morale after a torrid few months to stretching Russia’s resources. A Ukrainian presidential aide stated the incursion aimed at ensuring a “fair” negotiation process.

For the first time, Zelensky on Sunday stated the strategic ambitions of the operation, saying, “It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions.”

Those include “creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory”, the president stated in his latest address.

“Everything that inflicts losses on the Russian army, Russian state, their military-industrial complex, and their economy helps prevent the war from expanding and brings us closer to a just end to this aggression,” Zelensky added.

Kyiv’s foothold in Kursk is “getting stronger” with troops reinforcing their positions, according to Zelensky. Kyiv says it controls nearly 1,000 square kilometers (about 621 square miles) of Russian territory, and both Russia and Ukraine have urged residents to evacuate from areas where heavy fighting is ongoing.

As part of efforts to cripple Moscow’s logistical capabilities and disrupt supply routes, Ukrainian troops announced Sunday they blew up another bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region, with “precision airstrikes”.

“The Air Force aviation continues to deprive the enemy of logistics capabilities with precision airstrikes, which significantly affects the course of combat operations,” Ukrainian Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk said in a social media post that included a video showing plumes of smoke engulfing parts of the bridge.

The attack comes two days after Ukrainian forces destroyed a first bridge over the Seym. Russia’s foreign ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets to carry out that attack, which were likely US-made HIMARS.

HIMARS, or the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, has perhaps been the most revered and feared piece of weaponry in Kyiv’s fight and since arriving have helped Ukraine to take back significant swaths of territory from Russia.

The Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState reported Sunday that Kyiv is making further gains in Kursk and shared a still image from a video of what it claimed was a Ukrainian Defense Forces tank in the village of Olgovka, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the town of Sudzha.

Kyiv’s forces took control of Sudzha last week and established a military commandant’s office there, according to Ukrainian military officials.

Russia appears to have diverted several thousand troops from front line fighting in occupied Ukraine to address the territorial loss in Kursk.

Despite Kyiv’s push further into Kursk, Russian forces are also advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Over the past week, Russia used more than 40 missiles, 750 guided aerial bombs and 200 attack drones against Ukrainian cities and villages, Zelensky said Sunday.

“For such terror, the occupier must be held accountable before the courts and history. They are already facing the strength of our warriors,” Zelensky added.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Ukrainian army chief, told Zelensky, “Our guys are doing great on all fronts,” but he called for Ukraine’s Western partners including the United States, the United Kingdom and France to deliver supplies quicker.

“There are no vacations in war.”

Last Monday, President Vladimir Putin said the enemy will receive a proper response in the border regions of Russia. He added any peace talks with Kiev are impossible as long as it conducts strikes on civilian populations and threatens nuclear power plants.

The situation in the Kursk Region shows that Kiev rejects all the peace proposals of Moscow and mediators, Putin stated.

“Apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future, but what kind of negotiations can we talk about at all with people who indiscriminately strike at civilians, civilian infrastructure, or try to create a threat to nuclear energy facilities? What can we talk about with them at all?”