August 13, 2024 18:22 | Updated: August 13, 2024 18:29
Heorhy Tykhy said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainians. Photo: Alamy
Kiev Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhy Tykh said Ukraine has no interest in occupying Russia’s Kursk region, despite controlling about 1,000 square kilometres of the region.
Tikhy said the cross-border operation, which Kiev launched on August 6, was aimed at protecting Ukrainian territory from long-range attacks from the Kursk.
Ukrainian forces have advanced 18 miles (30 kilometers) into Russia, their deepest advance since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Around 121,000 people have been evacuated from the Kursk region, with another 59,000 ordered to leave.
About 11,000 people were also evacuated from the Krasnoyarsh district of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, leaving only 500 residents.
Heorhy Tykhy said: “Ukraine has no interest in seizing territory in the Kursk region.” Photo: Alamy
“Ukraine is not interested in seizing territory in the Kursk region, but wants to protect the lives of its people,” Tikhy was quoted as saying by local media.
He said Russia had carried out more than 2,000 attacks from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, artillery barrels, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles.
“The goal of this operation is to protect children’s lives and defend Ukrainian territory from Russian aggression,” he said.
Ukraine’s Western allies say it has the right to defend itself, including by launching attacks across its border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the invasion: “Russia brought war to other countries, and now it is bringing war to its own country.”
“Ukraine always wants only peace and we will ensure that peace.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to “drive the enemy off our territory” and said the invasion would not hinder Russia’s own war aims in Ukraine, which it invaded two and a half years ago.
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Matthew Saville, director of military science at the Royal Institute of Joint Services, said Russia had “deeply embarrassed itself”.
“Loss of territory and the displacement of civilians would be used against Russia as evidence that it is ‘incapable of defending itself,'” he added.
Putin said the Kursk offensive appeared to reflect an attempt by Kiev to gain a better position in future negotiations to end the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty
“It is clear that the enemy will continue to try to destabilise the situation in our border areas in order to destabilise the domestic political situation in our country,” he added.
But Putin said Ukraine had failed in its aim to destabilise Russia and that Russian forces needed to “drive” Ukrainian troops out of the border area.
He had previously described Kiev’s actions as a “large-scale provocation” that included “indiscriminate shelling of civilian buildings, homes and ambulances.”
One of Putin’s governors has accused Ukraine of using chemical weapons during the invasion, but it is unclear whether he has presented any evidence.
The two countries have accused each other of using chemical weapons during the war.
Zelenskiy spoke out about the incursion for the first time over the weekend, saying Russia deserved a “fair” response after it carried out around 2,000 cross-border attacks into Ukraine’s Sumy region in recent months.