Zelenskiy Acknowledges Ukraine’s Invasion Of Russian Territory

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, stated for the first time that Ukrainian forces were involved in Russia’s surprise offensive in the Kursk region.

Moscow’s soldiers were in their sixth day of heavy combat against Kyiv’s heaviest assault into Russian territory since the war began, leaving southern Russia vulnerable until reinforcements arrived.

In a sign of the scale of the Ukrainian invasion, Russia implemented a broad security regime in three border regions on Saturday, while Belarus, a close Moscow ally, sent additional troops to its border with Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of breaching its airspace.

In his nightly video message, Zelenskiy stated that he had discussed the operation with top Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, vowing to restore justice if Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour in February 2022.

“Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor’s territory,” Zelenskiy said on Saturday night, August 10.

“Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor.”

Russia’s defence ministry announced on Sunday that it had destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles overnight over the Kursk region, as well as 18 drones over other Russian regions bordering Ukraine.

In a statement last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Ukrainian strike a’major provocation.’ Russian military bloggers said that the situation had steadied following Russia’s reinforcements, but that

Ukraine was rapidly increasing its soldiers. According to the bloggers, fighting is taking place as far as 20 kilometres (12 miles) into the Kursk region, leaving others to ask how Ukraine was able to infiltrate the territory so easily.

Kursk’s acting governor, Alexei Smirnov, directed municipal authorities to expedite civilian evacuations in high-risk regions.

Russia’s TASS state news agency said on Saturday that more than 76,000 people had been evacuated. Zelenskiy acknowledges Ukraine.

Tatyana Moskalkova, the Russian Human Rights Commissioner, said she has filed an appeal to the United Nations requesting that it condemn Ukraine’s conduct in Kursk.

Moskalkova stated in a Telegram post that she was requesting that the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner “take measures to prevent gross mass violations of human rights”.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli