Ukraine is bringing war ‘back to Russia,’ Zelenskyy says after new Kursk offensive

ABC:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that some 38,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded fighting in Russia’s western Kursk region since August, with Kyiv now launching a fresh offensive in the border region.

“We continue to maintain a buffer zone on Russian territory, actively destroying Russian military potential there,” Zelenskyy said in a statement posted Monday to the presidency’s website.

Monday marked five months since Ukrainian units crossed into Kursk in a surprise summer 2024 offensive there. Russian forces — recently supported by North Korean troops — have since slowly been reclaiming ground in their bid to eject Ukrainian troops from the region.

On Sunday, Ukrainian and Russian officials confirmed that Kyiv had launched a fresh offensive in Kursk, with fierce fighting reported in several villages.

“Since the beginning of the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost over 38,000 troops in this area alone, including approximately 15,000 irrecoverable losses,” Zelenskyy said.

“The Russians have deployed their strong units to the Kursk region,” he added. “Soldiers from North Korea are involved there. What’s important is that the occupier cannot currently redirect all this force to other directions, in particular the Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, or Zaporizhzhia regions.”

“I thank all our warriors who are bringing the war back to Russia and providing Ukraine with greater security and strength,” Zelenskyy said.

Multiple Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian troops, tanks, armored vehicles and demining equipment attacked the villages of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye, north of Sudzha — the main administrative border town that Ukraine captured in August. Bloggers also reported an attack further west on the border town of Tetkino.