President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were fighting in the surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk, as the border region’s authorities rushed to evacuate civilians from areas at risk.
Moscow’s forces are in their sixth day of intense battles against Kyiv’s largest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war, which left southwestern parts of Russia vulnerable before reinforcement started arriving.
In a sign of the gravity of the situation, Russia imposed a sweeping security regime in three border regions on Saturday, while Belarus, a staunch ally of Moscow, sent more troops to its border with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of violating its airspace.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said he had discussed the operation with top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, vowing to restore justice after Russia launched a full-scale aggression on its smaller neighbor in February 2022.
“Today, I received several reports from 스포츠 commander-in-chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor’s territory,” he said.
“Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin cast the Ukrainian attack — which military analysts say caught the Kremlin off-guard — as a major provocation.
Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, said on Wednesday the attacks had been halted, but Russia has thus far failed to push the Ukrainian forces back over the border.
Russian military bloggers say the situation had stabilized after Russia’s reinforcements, though they said Ukraine was swiftly building up forces.