War in Ukraine | Ukrainian army ‘holding its ground’ in Russian Kursk region, says Zelensky

(Kyiv) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Kyiv is “holding firm” in the face of Moscow’s attempt to push back Ukrainian positions in the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukraine has held entire swathes of territory since August. territories.

“Regarding the Kursk operation, Russia tried to push back our positions, but we are holding on,” Zelensky said in his evening speech.

At the start of the week, Moscow claimed to have recaptured two villages in this sector and pledged to continue its “actions” to push Ukrainian forces out of its territory.

Mr. Zelensky also explained on Saturday that the situation of Ukrainian forces in eastern Donetsk region and southern Zaporizhzhia was “very difficult.”

According to Kyiv, Russian attacks killed two people on Saturday – a 19-year-old in a civilian car and an 84-year-old pensioner – east of Donetsk.

The Ukrainian army, in difficulty facing the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, launched a large-scale attack in the Kursk region on August 6, the largest offensive on Russian territory since the end of the Second World War.

In particular, it hoped to create a buffer zone near the border to limit Russian bombings on Ukrainian border communities, while forcing Russia to redeploy its units which are on the offensive near Donetsk and thus slow down their advances.

But Russian soldiers still continue to advance in eastern Ukraine, particularly towards Pokrovsk, a key logistical node for Ukrainian forces.

After the initial surprise of the attack on the Kursk region, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army in mid-August to “expel the enemy”.

A month later, on September 12, the Russians announced that they had regained ground by launching a counter-offensive.

In total, according to the Russian military, 14 villages, including Novaya Sorochina and Pokrovsky, were recaptured from the Ukrainians, out of the hundred over which Kyiv said it had control.

Around 150,000 civilians have fled fighting and shelling in the Kursk region in two months, according to Russian authorities.

Ukraine still controls hundreds of km² of Russian territory.

More than 70 drones shot down by Kyiv and Moscow

Ukraine and Russia reported enemy drone attacks targeting their territories overnight from Friday to Saturday, with Kyiv saying it neutralized 24 Russian drones while Moscow claimed to have shot down 47 Ukrainian machines.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had fired missiles at Ukraine from the Belgorod region, without specifying the number or type.

According to this source, Moscow also launched 28 drones on Ukraine, 24 of which were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses over the regions of Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Kherson.