Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of Kursk Region and does not seek to seize what is not its own. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyy explained that the Ukrainian army's operation in this area is intended, in particular, to protect civilians in the border areas that have been under fire from the territory of Kursk Region, and it also makes it more difficult for Russians to conduct hostilities at the front in Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine reports.
Tykhyy reminded that since the beginning of summer alone, the Russians have fired more than 2,000 times at Sumy Region from the territory of Kursk Region. Ukraine has no right to respond to these strikes with long-range Western weapons.
"Unfortunately, Ukraine cannot strike with the available long-range weapons to defend itself against this terror, there are no solutions that we insist on, so there is a need to use the Armed Forces to liberate these border areas from the Russian military contingent that strikes at Ukraine," Tikhiy said.
The ministry spokesman added that the Kursk operation does not allow the occupiers to deploy additional units to Donetsk Region and complicates Russian logistics.
"It was Russia that brought the war to Ukraine, and it is only fair that this war is now returning to Russia's territory. The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace, the sooner Ukrainian raids into Russian territory will stop. And as long as Putin continues the war, he will receive such responses from Ukraine," he added.
According to Tykhyy, Ukraine's international partners reacted to the raid in Kursk Region "neutrally and with restraint". He also drew attention to the fact that Russia began to prepare provocations against the Ukrainian military.
- On 6 August, the Ukrainian armed forces crossed the border into the Kursk Region and pushed the Russian army deeper into the territory. On 12 August, Kyiv officially recognised the raid in Kursk Region for the first time. According to Commander-in-Chief Syrskyy, about 1,000 square kilometres are under Ukrainian control. The operation is ongoing.