Ukraine's Kursk offensive halts Russian plans to seize cities
Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an interview with Indian media that Russia wanted to seize Kharkiv and Sumy. He added that Ukraine stopped the Russians thanks to an offensive in the Kursk region.
1:51 PM EDT, August 25, 2024
The Ukrainian president, discussing the offensive in the Kursk region, emphasized that it was not Ukraine that invaded Russia. "The Russian Federation invaded our territory 10 years ago. They occupied and killed people," he reminded.
Zelensky explained that the Russians were preparing an offensive in the Kharkiv region to seize the city. "And today, exactly 1.5 million people live there. Because the Russians entered the Kharkiv region, residents from destroyed villages had to move to the city. Russia wanted to occupy this overcrowded city," he recounted in an interview with journalists.
He revealed that the Russians also planned to seize the city of Sumy. According to information provided by Zelensky, the offensive was to be conducted through the Kursk region. Thanks to the Ukrainian offensive in this Russian region, they managed to thwart the plans of the Russian army. "Everything was already prepared. The difference is that we did it preemptively, so they would not capture our city," he explained.
"Kursk operation". Ukrainians seized about 40 Russian localities
Since August 6—since the start of the "Kursk operation"—Ukrainian forces have seized about 480 square miles of Russian territory and around 40 localities.
The Ukrainian army entered without major problems because the Russians did not fully anticipate the possibility of an invasion. Even the spring raids, which were conducted in this area by the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC), the Siberia Battalion, and the "Freedom of Russia" Legion fighting alongside Ukraine, were not a warning signal for the Kremlin.
