Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated today that "up to 1,000" Ukrainian soldiers may have participated in the armed incursion that began the previous day in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.
"The enemy's advance into the territory has been stopped by air and artillery strikes," Gerasimov assured President Vladimir Putin during a meeting broadcast on Russian television.
According to the member of the German Bundestag and defense policy expert Roderich Kisewetter, the events in the Kursk region have both symbolic and practical significance for Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.
According to the assessment of the former colonel of the Bundeswehr General Staff, military operations on the Kursk axis are aimed at tying down Russian forces in the area and inflicting significant losses on the enemy in order to relieve pressure on the front, forcing Russia to maintain military presence in the area and even strengthen it by withdrawing troops from other directions. It could also stop or limit Russian airstrikes carried out from the airspace over the Kursk region.
"Ukraine is taking targeted actions against the so-called Russian bridgeheads from which Russia has so far attacked Ukraine," the German politician believes.
So far, there are no official statements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on this topic, notes Ukrinform.