Ukrainian army 'holding firm' in Kursk, Zelensky says

Photo: Roman Pilipey Agence France-Presse Ukrainian soldiers drive a tank on a road in the Donetsk region.

Agence France-Presse

Posted at 5:13 p.m.

• Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that kyiv was “standing firm” in the face of Moscow’s attempt to push back Ukrainian positions in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine has held swathes of territory since August.

“As for the Kursk operation, Russia tried to push back our positions, but we are holding firm,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

Earlier this week, Moscow said it had recaptured two villages in the area and pledged to continue its “actions” to push Ukrainian forces out of its territory.

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Zelensky also said on Saturday that the situation for Ukrainian forces in eastern Donetsk region and southern Zaporizhzhia was “very difficult.”

According to kyiv, Russian attacks killed two people on Saturday — a 19-year-old in a civilian car and an 84-year-old pensioner — east of Donetsk.

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The Ukrainian army, struggling against the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, launched a major attack on August 6 in the Kursk region, the largest offensive in Russian territory since the end of the Second World War.

It hoped in particular to create a buffer zone near the border to limit Russian bombing of Ukrainian border towns, while forcing Russia to redeploy its units that are on the offensive near Donetsk and thus slow their advances.

But Russian soldiers continue to advance in eastern Ukraine, particularly towards Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for Ukrainian forces.

After the initial surprise of the attack on the Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army in mid-August to “expel the enemy.”

A month later, on September 12, the Russians announced that they had regained ground by launching a counteroffensive.

In total, according to the Russian military, 14 villages, including Novaya Sorotchina and Pokrovskii, have been retaken from the Ukrainians, out of the hundred or so that kyiv has said it controls.

Around 150,000 civilians have fled the fighting and bombing in the Kursk region in two months, according to Russian authorities.

Ukraine still controls hundreds of km2 of Russian territory.