Zelensky says Ukraine not kicked out of Russia’s Kursk
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 27 that his country's troops were still active in Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions.
PHOTO: AFP
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KYIV - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 27 said Ukraine’s army was still fighting in Russia’s Kursk, a day after Moscow claimed the “full liberation” of its western region.
Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since launching its offensive in February 2022.
“Our military continues to actively defend the designated areas of the Kursk and Belgorod regions,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the situation remained difficult in many areas including Kursk.
Russia said on April 26 it had captured Gornal, the last settlement that was under Ukrainian control in its border Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a shock offensive in August 2024.
Yet, hours later, Ukraine’s army denied its forces had been forced out, branding Russia’s claim as “propaganda tricks”.
“The situation on the front lines and the actual activities of the Russian army prove that the current pressure on Russia to end this war is not enough,” Mr Zelensky said, calling for increased pressure on Russia to create more opportunities for “real diplomacy”.
His comments come a day after Mr Zelensky discussed a potential ceasefire
After their brief talk in St Peter’s Basilica, Mr Trump cast doubt over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted an end to the war, which has devastated swathes of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people.
The following night, Russia launched drone and missile attacks, killing four people in regions across eastern Ukraine and wounding more than a dozen.
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov especially praised the “heroism” of the North Korean soldiers who fought in the Kursk campaign, admitting their participation in the conflict for the first time.
Several Russian military bloggers who closely monitor the conflict said fighting was still ongoing around the forests on the border between Russia and Ukraine.
A local Russian army commander in Kursk also said the army was still conducting operations in the region, according to a state TV broadcast aired on April 27.
‘Buffer zone’
In August 2024, the Ukrainian army rolled on Kursk
But Moscow has since then forced Kyiv’s soldiers on the defensive, gradually recapturing much of the region.
After Ukraine was temporarily stripped of key US intelligence
Russia has said it will keep advancing in the four Ukrainian regions it claimed to have annexed in 2022 after Kursk’s recapture.
And Moscow was planning to create a “buffer zone” in Ukraine’s Sumy region, which borders Russia, according to Gerasimov.
Russia holds about 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean peninsula which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. AFP
