Photo: screenshot from Volodymyr Zelenskyy's video
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting to address the situation in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. The main topics discussed included security, humanitarian aid. The president also discussed the potential establishment of military commandant’s offices if necessary.
President Zelenskyy shared details about the meeting on Facebook:
«Meeting on the situation in the Kursk region. We discussed key issues: security, humanitarian aid, and the establishment of military commandant’s offices if necessary.«
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine is defending itself and protecting the lives of its people in the border communities. This is achieved by taking active measures on Russian territory. He also emphasized that Ukrainian forces are strictly adhering to international conventions and international humanitarian law.
The Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, also participated in the meeting regarding the Kursk region. He mentioned the creation of a «buffer zone» by the Ukrainian military in the Kursk region, aimed at self-defense.
The meeting also addressed the need for access by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations (UN), and other impartial international organizations to carry out humanitarian activities.
«The «buffer zone» should ensure the supply of food, medicine, and other essential items for the civilian population.«
To recap, according to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Ukrainian military continues its offensive in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation. Ukraine has completed the «search and destruction» of enemy forces in the town of Sudzha. Syrskyi reported that, since the beginning of the day, Ukrainian troops have advanced one to two kilometers in some areas. He also noted that more than 100 Russian soldiers have been captured since the beginning of the day.
Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region has been ongoing since August 6. On August 12, Ukraine officially commented on these events for the first time when Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that Ukraine already controlled 24 settlements in the Kursk region.
That same evening, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the objective of the offensive in the Kursk region was to protect the Sumy region, as Russian forces from the Kursk region had fired more than 2,100 times at Sumy region since the beginning of June.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry clarified that Ukraine does not seek to claim the Kursk region and that the offensive there was a necessary measure, as Ukraine cannot use its Western partners’ weapons to drive the Russian military out of the border region.