Ukrainian forces get to 40 km from Kursk, as Washington and Brussels express their support

The location of the advancing Armed Forces of Ukraine is now only 40 kilometers from Kursk city, the administrative center of the region in western Russia; and this admission comes from the Russian Defense Ministry. 

The Russians claim to have been targeting Ukrainian personnel and equipment in the areas of Mikhailovka, Korenevo, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Oleshnya, Sudzha and Nikolayevka, which is a settlement just a few dozen kilometers from Kursk.

Meanwhile, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that the Ukrainian military controls 74 settlements in the Kursk region. “The Ukrainian forces continue operations in Kursk region. Today, our troops advanced by one to three kilometers in some areas. We have taken control of 40 km², and currently, 74 settlements are under our control. Fighting is ongoing along the entire front line. Given the high intensity of the combat, the situation is under control,” Syrskyi said in a report back to President Zelenskyy on August 13th.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the surrender of hundreds of Russian soldiers. According to Ukrainian media, the number of Russian prisoners has reached as many as 2,000. Some of those personnel have decided to join Ukraine in its fight and to enlist in the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion, said a Ukrainian Armed Forces lieutenant who goes by the alias of “Alex.” These are Ukrainian military units specifically composed of Russians and former members of the Russian Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine indicate that Russian intelligence may stage fake war crimes and mount ‘false flag’ operations, including against civilians in the Kursk region, trying to implicate the Ukrainian military in these acts. “Such information-psychological operations by the enemy are primarily related to their inability to effectively counter the Ukrainian offensive operations,”

According to Russian media, there are plans to move some civilians, from among those evacuated from the Kursk region, into occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia region.

At the same time, the Kremlin is hastily redeploying troops from occupied Ukrainian territories and from Kaliningrad region. “I say to the Lithuanian people: look at how Ukrainians are fighting for you, because due to their struggle, they [the Russians – ed.] need to withdraw their troops from Kaliningrad. We even call it the ‘demilitarization’ of Kaliningrad, which is happening thanks to the bravery of your military, thanks to your decisions,” said Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas during a meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on August 13th.

Ukraine has firmly stated that it has no interest in annexing Russia’s Kursk region.  Kyiv’s only objective is to protect Ukrainian lives and to better protect itself from constant Russian strikes, stated the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need what is not its own. Ukraine is not interested in taking territory in Kursk region; we want to protect the lives of our people,” the ministry emphasized.

Western leaders have offered unanimous support for Ukraine’s daring operation into Kursk. “I reiterated the EU full support to the Ukrainian people’s fight. Putin hasn’t managed to break Ukrainian resistance against his unjustified invasion and is pushed now to withdraw inside Russian territory,” wrote EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

US President Joe Biden has made his first comments about the operation. “It’s creating a real dilemma for Putin, and we’ve been in direct contact, constant contact, with the Ukrainians,” the American leader explained on August 13th.