Ukraine’s Kursk Operation Has Delivered Results. President Zelenskyy Shares His Insights

Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk region mostly aligned with Ukraine's expectations. Ukrainian forces successfully halted the Russian advance in the Kharkiv region and managed to slow their progress in the Donetsk region.

This was stated by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Forum on September 13.

One of the positive results is that the Russian forces have reduced the number of shells they use on the frontline in the Donetsk region. Before the beginning of Ukraine’s operation in the Kursk region, the ratio of the use of shells was 1 to 12 in favor of the Russians. Now the ratio is 1 to 2.5.

According to Zelenskyy, Russia began offensive actions in the Kursk direction but has not had any serious success.

In order to repel the Ukrainian offensive, Russia withdrew its troops from some directions of the frontline, in particular from Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and other areas. According to Zelenskyy, Russia seeks to withdraw 60,000 to 70,000 troops to this region. Currently, about 40,000 Russian personnel are already there.

Zelenskyy pointed out that Ukraine started the Kursk operation knowing that Russia was preparing for a new offensive.

"For one or another military success, they wanted to capture the centers of these regions. This is what the Kursk operation gave, I think, maybe someone expected different results, but it gave the results that, frankly, we were counting on," Zelenskyy said.