As part of a plan to create a "grey area" along its border, Ukraine has been putting constant pressure on Russia from the Kursk region.
Today marks 14 days of the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk, and Russian media reports that the Ukrainian army has destroyed the last 3 bridges of the Seim River near the battlefield. This results in Moscow's forces not being able to move quickly to the front, thus complicating the supply of soldiers on the front lines.
The Sirsky briefing and the Zelensky statements
Yesterday, Monday, August 19, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief revealed some important details about the Ukrainian operation.
"We are achieving new successes in Kursk," Army Commander-in-Chief Alexander Sirsky said on Telegram, without giving further details.
A few hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his first statements regarding the attack in Kursk, said that Kiev's goal is to create a "gray zone" (buffer zone) inside Russia.
"Now our main goal is to destroy as many Russian military capabilities as possible and to carry out maximum counter-attack actions," Zelensky said on Sunday evening in public remarks.
"This includes creating a gray zone in the aggressor's territory, which is why we started the operation in Kursk. That inflicting losses on the Russian army and the Russian state, on the Russian military industry and on the Russian economy helps us prevent the expansion of the war and end Moscow's aggression. This means that we are getting closer to peace for Ukraine," said the Ukrainian president.
It is interesting that Zelensky chose to use the term "buffer zone" to describe the objective of the Kursk invasion. And we mention this because not long ago Russian President Vladimir Putin used the exact same words to describe the target of the Russian attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine.
New Village in Kursk was captured
Finally, let us inform you that the Ukrainian Marine Corps declared that its soldiers managed to occupy yet another village in Kursk, Russia.
The official statement said that soldiers of the 501st Separate Battalion of Marines raised the Ukrainian flag in one of the Russian settlements of Kursk. Although the exact name of the village was not mentioned, in all probability we are dealing with the settlement of Apanasovka.