Russian armed forces have regained more than 800 square kilometers in the Kursk region, or about 64% of the total territory in the western region seized by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during their incursion there last year, a senior Russian general announced today, quoted by Reuters.
The head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, told the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda“ that Russian forces are advancing in all directions and Ukraine has been on the defensive since February last year, with the large-scale Russian offensive taking control of a significant area.
Gen. Rudskoy said that Russia currently controls 76 percent of Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, as well as over 99 percent of Luhansk region - the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow announced annexation in September 2022. He added that the four regions are now legally part of Russia and will never be returned to Ukraine.
“The past year was a turning point in achieving our goals. The regime in Kiev is no longer able to significantly change the situation on the battlefield,“ Rudskoy said. “The enemy has largely lost its ability to produce the necessary weapons, equipment and ammunition. Mobilization is often violent," he assured.
Rudskoy said the future of the conflict no longer depends on Ukraine, but on whether the West will agree to build a new European security architecture that takes into account Russia's interests.
US President Donald Trump reversed his country's policy towards the war in Ukraine, condemning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday as a "dictator" and warning that he must act quickly to ensure peace or risk losing his country, Reuters noted. The agency said that this has deepened the enmity between the two leaders and has alarmed European leaders.