Taking control of Russian territory and holding on to it is not the aim of Kiev’s cross-border incursion into Kursk Region, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrey Zagorodnyuk, who now advises the government, has told the Financial Times.
Kiev planned the ongoing attack, which it launched earlier this week, long in advance, the British newspaper cited him as saying on Friday
The purpose of the Ukrainian offensive is not to control Russian territory “for long,” Zagorodnyuk said. “We do not need Russian land. We want them to fail on ours.”
The former defense minister claimed that the actual goals of the operation are to divert Russian troops from other parts of the front line and bring the fighting into Russia to discourage the population from supporting the military operation against Kiev.
It is also aimed at exposing Russia’s “weaknesses” and seizing the initiative in the conflict after months of Russian gains in Donbass and other areas, he stated.
The operation in Kursk Region also proves the ability of the Ukrainian military to conduct “new tactics of combined arms operation” which it learned from Western instructors, Zagorodnyuk, who was in charge of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry from August 2019 to March 2020, said.
On Tuesday, Ukraine launched its largest attack on Russian territory since the outbreak of the conflict between the neighboring states in February 2022. The Russian military said on Wednesday that the advance was halted, but Ukrainian troops remain in some areas of Kursk Region and continue attempting to advance.
The Kremlin has denounced the attack as a provocation and accused Ukrainian troops of indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has called the incursion a “massed terrorist attack” aimed at demonstrating “at least some semblance of activity, amid the constant failures of the Ukrainian armed forces in the conflict.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian mobile groups were prevented from advancing deeper into Russian territory near the settlements of Ivashkovskoye, Malaya Loknya, and Olgovka.
Russian warplanes and artillery also hit Ukrainian troops in the areas of Nikolayevo-Daryino, Guevo, Lyubimovka, Zeleny Shlyakh, and Sverdlikovo, it added.
At least 15 foreign mercenaries fighting for Kiev were killed after their temporary deployment point was struck by a missile with a thermometric warhead, the statement read.
According to the ministry, Ukraine has already lost up to 1,120 servicemen and 140 armored vehicles, including 22 tanks, since the start of the incursion.