Ukraine Launched a Preemptive Strike on Kursk Region to Thwart Russian Plans for Kharkiv and Sumy

The Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a preemptive incursion in the Kursk region to disrupt Russian plans to capture Kharkiv and Sumy regions. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed this in an interview with Indian media representatives.

He explained that Russia had prepared to invade the Kharkiv region, aiming to occupy the city of Kharkiv, which has a population of 1.5 million.

“Today, exactly 1.5 million people live there because Russia invaded this area, forcing residents from destroyed homes in small towns and villages of the Kharkiv region to move to Kharkiv. Russia wants to occupy this city. We stopped them. That was part of their operation, but we foiled their offensive,”

Zelenskyy stated. According to him, Russia’s next move was to target Sumy. “The next step was, and they had already prepared for it, an attack from the north of our country, specifically from the side of Sumy, coming from the Kursk region. The difference is that we acted preventively with the Kursk operation to prevent them from capturing our city,” he said.

Zelenskyy emphasized that the Kursk operation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces is part of a “large military-diplomatic operation.”

“Everything we do is aimed at forcing Russia to be ready for a just peace. The Kursk operation prevented them from capturing our Sumy region, weakening our position, and strengthening theirs,” he explained.

The Ukrainian President noted that Ukraine faced significant challenges without the support of its partners for a long time.

“It was very difficult for us to seize the initiative. We needed to do it, and this is one of the stages of that plan. And you saw it work. But it worked precisely for what I’m saying. I can’t reveal all the objectives of these steps yet. When it’s all over, if we succeed, it will become clear why and what we did,” Zelenskyy concluded.

Ukraine officially announced carrying out an operation in the Kursk region on August 12.

In just two weeks, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have seized over 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk region. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, released a map showing the territories under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian army has advanced 28-35 kilometers into Russian territory.

Ukraine now controls 93 settlements. The Ukrainian government emphasizes that these territories are not occupied. Since Russian authorities fled these areas, a military commandant’s office has been established to maintain order.