Putin: With the incursion in Kursk, Ukraine is trying to stop the Russian offensive in Donbas

2024-08-12 18:42:39, Kosova & Bota CNA

Putin: With the incursion in Kursk, Ukraine is trying to stop the Russian

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo from the archive, AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian army's incursion into Russia's Kursk region, which has forced more than 100,000 civilians to evacuate and embarrassed the Kremlin, is an attempt by Kiev to halt the Russian offensive in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, and to to give him an advantage in possible future peace talks.

Russian forces are still trying to respond to the surprise attack that Ukraine launched a week ago, but Putin said Moscow's military will prevail.

Speaking at a meeting with senior security and defense officials, Putin said the attack that began on August 6 appears to be Kiev's attempt to gain a better negotiating position in possible future peace talks, which will aimed at ending the war.

He argued that Ukraine may have hoped that with this attack it would cause social unrest in Russia, adding that Kiev has failed to achieve this goal. The Russian leader claimed that the number of volunteers to join the Russian army has increased because of this attack. He said that the Russian army, despite the Kursk incursion, is continuing its offensive in eastern Ukraine.

"It is clear that the enemy will try to destabilize the situation in the border area by trying to destabilize the political situation of our state," Putin said.

The acting governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, reported to Putin that Ukrainian forces have entered 12 kilometers into the Kursk region along a 40-kilometer front and currently control 28 Russian settlements.

Smirnov said 12 civilians were killed and 121 others, including 10 children, were injured during the operation. About 121,000 have been evacuated or left fighting areas, he said.

Officials in the Belgorod region, located near the border with Ukraine, have also ordered the evacuation of citizens.

It remains unclear what Ukraine wants to achieve with the operation, as the country grapples with the unprovoked invasion that Russia launched against the neighboring country in February 2022. The incursion caught Kiev's forces by surprise, as the Russian military for months is fighting on the front line along the eastern Ukrainian regions./ VOA