The shock Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk area is meant to create a “buffer zone” between the 2 international locations and additional complicate Moscow’s cross-border offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated Sunday.
“It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions,” Zelenskyy stated in his nightly tackle, the primary public acknowledgment of the offensive’s true intent.
“This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region,” Zelenskyy continued.
Ukrainian forces destroyed one bridge within the area this weekend and struck a second in a bid to disrupt Russian provide traces. Professional-Kremlin battle bloggers have since acknowledged that the previous strike, which focused a bridge on the Seim River close to the village of Glushkovo, Russia, was profitable. The placement and efficacy of the second assault weren’t specified as of Sunday morning.
PUTIN SCRAMBLES AS UKRAINE ADVANCES TROOPS ALONG ‘DORMANT FRONT’ IN BORDER SECURITY OPERATION
Inset picture exhibits Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the reported web site of a profitable strike on a Russian bridge serving as a key provide route for forces within the nation’s Kursk Oblast. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs)
The reported strikes’ impact on Russian infrastructure additional complicates a state of affairs that has already positioned Moscow on an sudden defensive, forcing it to re-evaluate its technique alongside Ukraine’s northeastern border, which is a area that was largely written off as insignificant to the battle simply months after it started in 2022.
“The Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast [has forced] a decision-point on the Kremlin and the Russian military command about whether to view the 1,000 kilometer-long international border with northeastern Ukraine as a legitimate front line that Russia must defend,” the Institute for the Examine of Conflict’s George Barros beforehand advised Fox Information Digital.
This infographic was created in Ankara, Turkey, on Aug. 8, 2024. On Aug. 6, the Ukrainian military launched a full-scale assault on Russia’s southern Kursk area, creating a brand new entrance within the battle. (Murat Usubali/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs)
“Russia has spent considerable resources to build fortifications along the international border area,” Barros famous, “but has not allocated the manpower and [matériel] to significantly man and defend those fortifications.”
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Ukraine has claimed roughly 400 sq. miles of Russian territory since launching the operation on Aug. 6.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
