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Ukraine is seeking to destabilize Russia and thousands of troops have invaded Kursk over the past few days, a senior Ukrainian security official told AFP late on Saturday.
Explaining the strategic goals of the Kursk Offensive, the official explained that Ukraine is trying to disperse Moscow’s forces and move the war into Russian territory, while saying that the Russians are incapable of protecting their own borders.
“We are on the offensive. The goal is to disperse the enemy’s positions, inflict maximum losses on them, destabilize the situation in Russia because they cannot protect their borders, and move the war to Russian territory,” said the official, who requested anonymity to be named.
‘There are more’ Ukrainian soldiers
On Wednesday, the Russian military announced that Ukraine had sent 1,000 troops to invade the Kursk region. “There are more there,” a Ukrainian official said, estimating the number to be “thousands.”
Analysts say the attack allowed the Ukrainians to penetrate at least 15 kilometers into Russian territory. However, they remained silent about the operation for several days, surprising the Kremlin. Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged the attack for the first time on Saturday evening, explaining that Kiev was seeking to “bring the war to” Russia.
“Catch the Russians sleeping”
A Ukrainian official told AFP last night that the surprise attack boosted morale in society and in Ukraine’s armed forces, which are exhausted by two and a half years of Russian aggression.
The official said, “This was a very good operation” that “put the Russians to sleep” and “really boosted the morale of us, the Ukrainian army, the state and society.” After months of retreat on the Eastern Front, “this operation showed that we can attack and move forward.”
As Ukrainian officials point out, the initial purpose of the invasion was to divert Russian troops from Ukraine’s Kharkiv (northeast) and Dobas (east) regions to relieve pressure on Kiev’s outnumbered and undermanned forces. He acknowledged that the offensive has not yet affected the Eastern Front.
“In principle, the situation has not changed. Their pressure in the east continues, they are not withdrawing their troops from the region,” even though “the intensity of the Russian offensive in the east has hardly decreased,” the Ukrainian official stressed.
The Western Allies have learned
The official said that Russia will sooner or later stop the Ukrainian army in Kursk. But if he fails to recover these lands, “they can be used for political purposes”, for example, during peace talks, the official estimated. According to him, Russia is preparing a massive missile strike on Ukrainian “decision-making centers” in response to the attack.
The Ukrainian newspaper reported that Ukraine’s Western allies had been warned about the incursion. “Since Western weapons are currently being used in this operation, our Western partners are indirectly involved in its organization,” he said.
The White House said on Wednesday it had contacted Ukraine to learn more about the “targets” of the intrusion.
“There is no thought of annexation, we respect international law”
Ukrainian officials have given assurances that Ukraine fully respected international humanitarian law during its invasion of Russia and has no intention of annexing the currently occupied areas.
“There is no thought of annexation… We act in full respect of international law,” he stressed.
“It is very important that Ukraine does not violate any treaties, we strictly observe humanitarian law: we do not execute prisoners, we do not rape women, we do not loot,” the Ukrainian security official noted.
“Bucha, Irpin, none of this happened and it will not happen,” he added, referring to atrocities committed by Russian forces in those Ukrainian cities in early 2022.
Asked if he knew whether seizing the Kursk nuclear power plant near the border was one of the goals of the operation, he replied: “We will see (…). We certainly will not cause nuclear safety problems.”
Russia uses North Korean missiles on Kiev
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that Russian forces used North Korean missiles in a nighttime airstrike in the Kiev region, killing a father and his 4-year-old son.
“According to preliminary information, Russia used North Korean missiles in this attack, which was another deliberate terrorist attack against Ukraine,” he wrote on social media.
“Pyrotechnic experts are working to determine the exact data about the missile.”
Source: APEC
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