Offensive on Russian territory restores faith in Ukraine's victory in war - Polish FM Sikorski

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said this in an interview with Espreso TV.

According to him, Ukraine has received unprecedented assistance from the West.

"Western democracies support Ukraine at an unprecedented level, and I ask you to remember this. Ukraine has received approximately over €200 billion in aid, more or less evenly split between the EU and the USA. These are gigantic sums," the diplomat stated.

At the same time, he praised the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers who have brought the fighting to the territory of the aggressor country.

"This bold offensive, now being conducted on Russian territory, in my opinion, restores faith that Ukraine can win and will have strong leverage in negotiations," Sikorski said.

He expressed confidence that Russia will not be able to achieve its goals.

"I know how difficult all this is, I know how many refugees there are, how devastated the infrastructure is, how many Ukrainian soldiers have died, and how many remain missing for months or even years. It is a very difficult situation for you. But I believe that Putin made a catastrophic mistake and can no longer achieve his initial goals," the Polish FM said.

At the same time, he acknowledged that if US aid had arrived earlier, Ukraine's Defense Forces could have achieved more.

"The Americans were at least six months late with their aid package, but you were also much later with your mobilization. Decisions on these matters are made by politicians," Sikorski concluded.

Ukraine’s cross-border incursion in Russia’s Kursk region

On August 6, the authorities of Russia's Kursk region stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly tried to break through the Russian border, but were pushed back. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that "the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group retreated to its territory.”

On August 7, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin convened the Russian military leadership to discuss the situation in the Kursk region, which he called a "large-scale provocation." At the time, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the international community to "strongly condemn the Kyiv regime's criminal attacks on Russian territory."

On August 10, President Zelenskyy called the operation in the Kursk region “pushing the war into the aggressor's territory.” At night of the same day, the authorities introduced a counterterrorism operation in the Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod regions of Russia.

On August 14, it became known that the Ukrainian military had formed a “sanitary (buffer) zone” for self-defense in the Kursk region of Russia. It is planned to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, and if necessary, military commandant's offices will be established in the Russian region.

At a meeting with the president on August 15, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine had established the first military commandant's office in the Kursk region to provide humanitarian aid to local residents.

At the same time, Ukraine's Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, together with the military, is currently working on a possible route for a humanitarian corridor for civilians from Kursk to Sumy.

On August 15, The Independent reported that about 2,000 Russian servicemen were captured during an operation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.

Soldiers of the 80th Separate Air Assault Galician Brigade of the Airborne Forces of Ukrainian Armed Forces told about the results of their work after the first hours of the military operation in the Russian Kursk region.

Ukrainian forces keep conducting operations in the Kursk region. As of August 19, the Ukrainian Armed Forces took control of 92 settlements.

On August 20, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered the military to push Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region by October 1, 2024.

On August 20, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the Ukrainian military controlled 1,263 square kilometers in the Kursk region, including 93 settlements.