Ukraine calls Putin's statement on Kursk a "lie"

^{Archive photo: Sputnik}
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a statement on February 19 that the Russian army had crossed the border of the Kursk region and entered Ukrainian territory. Ukraine denied this statement. This was reported by Deutsche Welle.

"Putin's information about a large-scale offensive by Russian troops is false," said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Combating Disinformation under the Ukrainian government.

According to him, a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Ukrainian territory from the Kursk region and was destroyed. Shortly before this, Putin announced that Russian troops had entered Ukrainian territory through the Kursk region.

"According to the latest information received by me just an hour ago, fighters of the 810th brigade crossed the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and entered enemy territory last night. Our troops are going on the offensive along the entire front line," Putin said.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also denies Putin's statements

The headquarters' current report dated February 19 also mentions the Kursk direction of combat operations during Russia's war with Ukraine.

Ukrainian defenders in Kursk are repelling three attacks by the invaders, and a total of 12 combat engagements have been recorded so far. Ukrainian troops are weakening the enemy along the entire front line and behind the front line, the General Staff wrote after Putin's statement.

At the time of publication of the report, there was no official comment from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry or the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky.

Kursk offensive

On August 6, 2024, the Ukrainian army launched a military operation in the Kursk region. By August 12, 28 settlements had been taken under the control of Ukrainian forces, according to the then acting governor of the region, Alexei Smirnov. In January, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian side had captured 1,268 sq. km of the region (the total area of ​​the Kursk region is 29,900 sq. km). By mid-January, according to the Russian agency, 801 sq. km (63.2%) had been recaptured. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”