Ukraine is not interested in “occupying” the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and wants to protect the lives of its citizens. The operation will also prevent the enemy from sending more troops to the Donetsk region, complicating logistics, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhyy Tikhy said, News.az reported, citing the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
“Unlike the Russian Federation, Ukraine does not need other countries. Ukraine is not interested in seizing territory from the Kursk region and wants to protect the lives of its people,” Tikhy said at a news conference in Kiev on Tuesday.
He noted that since the beginning of the summer, more than 2,000 enemy attacks have been launched from the Kursk Region of the Russian Federation against the Sumy Region of Ukraine, using 255 guided bombs and more than 100 missiles.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient opportunities to carry out long-range attacks with available weapons to defend itself against this terrorism. So far there are no solutions that we would advocate. Therefore, with the support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it is necessary to liberate these border areas, in particular from Russian military units that are attacking Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The spokesman noted that Ukraine has achieved “important goals” in the Kursk region and will continue to do so, as it is necessary for the country’s security and defense.
In addition, Tikhy stressed that operations in the Kursk region will not allow the Russian Federation to send additional forces to the Donetsk region, complicating the enemy’s logistics.
“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are a civilized European army that fully understands the laws and customs of war and international humanitarian law. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have only one military goal. The objective of the operation is to save the lives of our citizens and defend the territory of Ukraine from Russian aggression,” the spokesman said.
The ministry also said there was reasonable suspicion that the Russian Federation may have “fabricated” the incident, including by having Russian troops wear Ukrainian military uniforms in order to fabricate violations of international humanitarian law by Ukrainian forces.
“We warn our partners to be prepared for such developments. If there are such attempts on the part of the Russian Federation, remain vigilant and do not succumb to Russian propaganda,” the spokesman said.
“The Russian Federation brought the war to the territory of Ukraine, and as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed, it is only fair that this war now returns to the territory of the Russian Federation,” Tykhy added.
“The sooner the Russian Federation agrees to the restoration of a just peace, in particular based on a peaceful approach, the sooner raids by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Russian Federation will stop,” the ministry said.
News.AZ