War in Ukraine, day 905 | Kyiv wants to force Moscow into “fair” talks

(Kyiv) Ukraine said Friday that one of the goals of its offensive into Russia’s Kursk border region was to force Moscow into “fair” negotiations after nearly two and a half years of full-scale invasions of its territory.

Ukrainian forces attacked the Kursk region on August 6, seizing dozens of towns and hundreds of square kilometers in an offensive that surprised the Russian army as it slowly advanced further south into Ukraine’s Donbass region.

Kyiv has given various reasons to justify its assault, while Russia occupies nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory: including forcing Moscow to withdraw troops from other parts of the front, or creating a “buffer zone” to stop shelling in Ukrainian border territories.

But Kyiv also wants to use the conquered Russian territories as bargaining chips in possible negotiations with the Kremlin.

“The military tool is being used objectively to persuade Russia to enter into a fair negotiation process,” Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, told X on Friday.

While he reiterated that Kyiv had no intention of “occupying” any part of Russian territory, he also noted that in the event of “potential” negotiations, a way must be found to bring Russia “to the other side of the table.”

On Tuesday, a Ukrainian diplomat had already called on Moscow to accept “a just peace”, with Kyiv demanding the withdrawal of the Russian army from its internationally recognized territory.

“We left everything”

However, negotiations between the two parties have been completely blocked since spring 2022, with Moscow continuing to demand that Ukraine accept the annexation of part of its territory.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wants to develop by November, the date of the presidential election in the United States – a vital ally of Kyiv – a plan that would serve as the basis for a future peace summit to which the Kremlin must be invited.

He reiterates that peace can only be possible if the Russian army withdraws completely, including from the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

Vladimir Putin is demanding that Kyiv give him back the Ukrainian regions that it claims to annex and renounce its membership in NATO. These demands are unacceptable to Ukrainians and Westerners, who have never stopped calling for respect for international law.

After ten days of advance on Russian soil, Ukraine claims to have taken control of 1,150 km² and 82 localities. Opposite, the Russian army claims to have deployed reinforcements.

Kyiv says it has seized in particular the town of Sudja, located 10 km from the border and where there is a major gas hub of the Russian giant Gazprom, supplying Europe via Ukraine.

At least 12 civilians have been killed and more than 120 injured since the start of the Ukrainian operation, according to a report from Russian authorities provided at the beginning of the week.

In the city of Kursk, several dozen kilometers from the fighting, several dozen people of all ages were gathered Thursday in a temporary accommodation center after having hastily left their homes.

“We don’t know what to do. We cry day and night,” Zinaida Tarassiouk, a 70-year-old pensioner, told AFP. “We left everything behind.”

“When we wanted to leave, our tanks were destroyed and on fire,” said Inna Pereverzeva, 50.

The evacuations come as fighting continues in the area. During one of them, two Russian aid workers were killed in a Ukrainian strike on Friday, according to their organization.

Russian push in the East

Heavy fighting continues further south in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops have the upper hand against an outnumbered Kyiv army.

Moscow claimed on Friday the capture of a new village, that of Serguiivka, about fifteen kilometers from the city of Pokrovsk, a logistical hub on the road to the strongholds of Chassiv Iar and Kostiantynivka.

The day before, Russian forces had claimed the capture of another village in this sector, where they have been advancing since May.

The Russian army also assured on Friday that it had foiled an attack during the night by 12 American Atacms missiles fired by Ukrainian forces on the Kerch bridge, which links Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Finally, the Russian occupation authorities claimed that seven civilians had been injured at midday in a Ukrainian attack that hit a shopping center in Donetsk, a large city in eastern Ukraine under Moscow’s control since 2014. A major fire was underway there in the afternoon.