Zelenskyy meets with border region officials to discuss Kursk situation

The President's Office reported the information.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the border of Sumy region and held a meeting with Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi and Head of Sumy Regional Military Administration Volodymyr Artiukh.

During the meeting, Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi reported on the operational situation in the areas of active operations in the Kursk region and along the entire frontline. In particular, the Commander-in-Chief informed about steps to strengthen defense in the Toretsk and Pokrovsk directions, where the Russian army continues to focus its main efforts.

Syrskyi also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had taken control of another settlement in the Kursk region and replenished the exchange fund for Ukraine. He also reported on the establishment of a military commandant's office in the area.

In turn, the head of the Regional Military Administration, Volodymyr Artiukh, addressed the situation in the Sumy region following the start of the Kursk operation. He highlighted a reduction in small arms fire and civilian casualties, noting that this has also allowed for safer restoration of the energy infrastructure and better preparation for the upcoming heating season.

“During the meeting, they discussed coordination of actions between the military, police and the State Emergency Service in the border area, in particular to organize humanitarian convoys to certain areas of the Kursk region,” the Presidential Office added.

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.

Ukrainian troops continue to conduct operations in the Kursk region. As of August 19, the Ukrainian Armed Forces took control of 92 settlements.

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

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