Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly acknowledged for the first time that his country’s troops are active in Russia’s Belgorod region.
“We continue to carry out active operations in border areas on enemy territory, and this is absolutely justified – the war must be brought back to where it came from,” he stated.
His comments also referred to the Kursk region in Russia, where Ukraine still holds part of the area after a major offensive last year. Moscow has regained most of the territory.
Zelensky said the “primary goal” was to defend Ukraine’s border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv and to “relieve pressure” on other parts of the front line, particularly in the Donetsk region.
Last month, the Russian army reported that Ukraine had attempted to cross into the Belgorod region, but according to them, these efforts had failed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow currently controls around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
In a video address late on Monday, Zelensky said he received information from General Oleksandr Syrskyi regarding the situation at the front, including the presence in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.
Zelensky thanked the military units defending Ukraine, including the “225 Assault” regiment that entered the Belgorod region.
