Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday (12) that Ukraine’s biggest attack on Russian territory since the start of the war was aimed at improving Kiev’s position for possible peace talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces.
The Ukrainian army crossed the Russian border last Tuesday (6) and crossed some areas in the west of the Kursk region, a surprise attack that exposed the fragility of Russia’s border defenses in the region.
In his most detailed comments to the public on the invasion so far, Putin said Ukraine, “with the help of its Western masters,” was trying to improve its position ahead of possible negotiations.
He questioned what kind of negotiations could be held with an enemy he accused of indiscriminately firing on Russian civilians and nuclear facilities.
“The main task, of course, is for the Defense Ministry to expel, to remove the enemy from our territories,” Putin said, adding that Russian forces were accelerating their advance on the rest of the main 1,000-km front.
“The enemy will certainly receive a response in kind,” he said.
He also said he expected more Ukrainian attempts to destabilize Russia’s western border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war was now turning back to Russia. He said Ukraine’s cross-border strike was a security issue for Ukraine and that Kiev had seized areas from which Russia had launched strikes.
Its top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Ukraine controlled 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory, far more than the figures given by Russian officials.
According to Acting Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov, Ukraine controlled 28 settlements in the region, and that the incursion was 12 km deep and 40 km wide. Putin told Smirnov that the army would report on these matters and advised him to focus on improving the socio-economic situation.
In the Kursk region alone, 121,000 people have already left or been evacuated, and another 59,000 are in the process of being evacuated. In the Belgorod region of Russia, bordering Kursk, thousands of civilians have also been evacuated.
Ukrainian forces in Kursk were trying to encircle Sudzha, where Russian natural gas flows into Ukraine, with major fighting ongoing near Korenevo, about 22 km from the border, and Martynovka.
A Russian source with knowledge of the officials’ assessment said that by attacking Russia, Ukraine was encouraging Russian hardliners who believe cease-fire negotiations are a waste of time and who argue that Russia should make much more progress in Ukraine.
Crucial moment
Russian officials say Ukraine is trying to show its Western backers that it can still carry out major military operations, just as pressure mounts on Kiev and Moscow to agree to talks on ending the war.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls 18% of Ukraine’s territory. Until the surprise attack, Ukraine had been losing territory to Russian forces despite hundreds of billions of dollars in support from the US and Europe aimed at halting and even reversing the Russian advance.
After more than two years of the most intense ground war in Europe since World War II, Moscow and Kiev have indicated they are considering possible talks, although in public they remain far from a ceasefire.
Both are also eyeing the US presidential election in November, with Kiev worried that US support could weaken if Republican Donald Trump wins.
Trump has said he would end the war, and both Russia and Ukraine are eager to gain the strongest possible bargaining position on the battlefield.
Reuters reported in February that Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States. In June, Putin floated possible terms, including demands that Kiev give up its NATO ambitions and withdraw all its troops from four provinces claimed by Moscow.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said last month after talks with China that Kiev was prepared to hold talks on the conflict with Russia as long as Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were fully respected.
Kiev claims it is the victim of an imperial-style land grab by Putin and says it must regain control of all the land it has lost to Russia. The West says it cannot allow Putin to win.
Source: CNN Brasil
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