Zelenskyy: Kursk operation is preemptive strike, we used plan A
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine's operation in the Kursk region of Russia was a preemptive strike. The Ukrainian command used plan A, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with NBC News.
According to the president, Ukraine knew that Russians could break through the border in the Sumy region, bordering the Kursk region. If this happened, Ukraine would have to stop the enemy for a long time.
“And then, in order to push them out, we need to have an advantage in people and weapons. It is not a fact that we will have it. That is why we made such a preventive strike, which we developed as an operation,” the head of state said.
Zelenskyy added that there were several options for the development of events - positive and more difficult, in which the minimum must be fulfilled.
“It (the Kursk operation - ed.) was more successful. That's why we used plan A,” he said.
He adds that everything that is happening now in the Kursk region is not improvisation, but a clear operation, emphasizing that the breakthrough in the Kursk region was only a part of it.
“And I will tell you frankly - it is a part of the operation. There are various actions that we have envisaged and that we believe we need to take to weaken Russia's pressure in the east of our country. In the Kharkiv region, as well as in the south. In the south, we are talking about Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Donbas. Donbas, Pokrovsk, Toretsk, where we are having a hard time. That is why part of the operation - in our opinion, the right steps - was Kursk region. This is what happened,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian operation in Kursk region
Fighting has been going on in the Kursk region of Russia since August 6. Ukrainian troops broke through the border and took control of thousands of square kilometers. That is more than a hundred settlements, including the town of Sudzha. Several important facilities are located there, for example, a gas station that transits gas to Europe.
Ukraine has set up a military commandant's office in the border areas of the Kursk region. The Armed Forces recently explained why it was needed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also emphasized that Ukraine wants to hold the territory in the Kursk region until Russian president Vladimir Putin sits down at the negotiating table.
Read more about why the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Kursk operation has slowed down in an RBC-Ukraine article.
