President Zelensky outlines plan to seize territory in Kursk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his intention to retain territories in the Kursk region.
According to RIA Novosti on September 4, in an interview with NBC News, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces plan to hold the captured territories in the Kursk region because of its role in Kiev's strategy.
“We need those territories very much right now. We will keep them,” President Zelensky said.
According to leader Zelensky, the territories are of great importance for Kiev's plans.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, as of September 3, in the fighting in the Kursk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 9,300 servicemen.
In Kursk, as well as the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, a state of emergency has been introduced to ensure the safety of residents.
Earlier, in a speech on the evening of August 18, President Zelensky said Ukraine aimed to establish a "buffer zone" in Kursk.
By military definition, a buffer zone is an area established between two opposing forces with the aim of reducing the possibility of armed conflict. Buffer zones are usually demilitarized and sometimes monitored by neutral international forces such as United Nations peacekeeping forces.
However, according to experts, any buffer zone in Russia’s Kursk Oblast would be different from traditional buffer zones. Because, in the context of no signs that Ukraine will withdraw from Kursk, it is completely impossible for Russia to agree to establish a “buffer zone” within its territory and not seek to regain territory lost to Ukrainian forces.
