Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrsky, has defended Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, saying the invasion was working because Russia did not advance on a key area of the eastern front in Ukraine for six days.
Kiev launched its surprise offensive in Kursk on August 6 and said it had captured an estimated 1,300 square kilometers (502 sq mi) of territory and dozens of settlements.
Officials have said the offensive was part of a strategy to slow Russia’s advance on the strategically important city. Pokrovsk in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Speaking to the United States broadcast network, CNN, Sirsky said Ukraine was “doing everything possible not to lose Pokrovsk”.
“In the last six days, the enemy has not advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction,” he said. “In other words, our strategy is working.”
It was not possible to verify the situation on the front line and the claims made by each side.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kursk offensive had failed to slow Russia’s advance and that the move would only weak Defense of Ukraine in Donetsk.
Analysts say Russia has moved A few troops from the Ukrainian east to Kursk, where his forces are supported by conscripts and ethnic Chechen fighters.
He continues to claim to be moving towards Pokrovsk, he says captured A few small villages east of Pokrovsk as well as nearby Mirnohrad. Thousands of residents are being evacuated.
In his interview, recorded at an undisclosed location near the front line, Sirsky admitted that the situation in Pokrovsk was “the most problematic for us” but insisted that the Kursk offensive was having the desired effect.
“We have taken away their ability to maneuver and deploy reinforcements,” he said.
“We know that the volume of artillery shelling has decreased as well as the intensity of the offensive.
“I think this strategy was chosen correctly, and it will bring us the desired result.”
Amid continued fighting and a new wave of Russian bombardment were killed Over the past dozen weeks, Ukraine has increased pressure on the US and its other allies to provide it with more air defense and allow it to use Western-supplied long-range weapons against military targets inside Russia.
Those issues are likely to be discussed later when members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), the group that provides military aid to Ukraine, meet in Germany.
Ahead of the meeting, the United Kingdom announced it would supply 650 Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) systems to boost Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, with the first delivery due by the end of the year.
“In recent days, we have seen the tragic cost of Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on Poltava and Lviv,” UK Defense Secretary John Haley said in a statement. “These new UK-made missiles will support Ukraine in defending its people, infrastructure and resources from Putin’s brutal attacks.”
Post Ukraine’s military chief said the Kursk offensive has stalled Russia’s progress appeared first Al Jazeera.