[Korrespondent] 16:22 Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in the Kursk region "helped" Ukraine "a lot" because the number of calls for "peace talks" with Moscow has decreased. At the same time, he stressed that the operation in the Kursk region is defensive, and Kiev does not need foreign lands and citizens.
15:47 IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said after visiting the Kursk NPP that he will visit Kyiv next week and meet with Zelensky. According to the agency's Director General, cases of military activity near the Kursk NPP "raise concerns for its safety."
14:51 Russia, thanks to the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, has moved some of its troops from the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia directions, Zelensky said. At the same time, the Donetsk region remains a strategic target for the Russian Federation, so it is not withdrawing its troops from there, the president added.
14:38 Zelensky stated that the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region is one of the points of the plan for Ukraine's victory. At the same time, the president emphasized that it is in no way connected with the meeting in Qatar on stopping strikes on energy infrastructure, which Western media had previously written about. "The Kursk operation is not connected with any of the points of the peace formula. Is the Kursk operation connected with the Second Peace Summit? Yes, because it is one of the points of the plan for Ukraine's victory. The Kursk operation had and has completely different goals than the meeting on energy with colleagues," the head of state noted.
14:31 Zelensky claims that the Kursk operation stopped the occupation of the Kharkiv and Sumy regions: "There are goals that I can say, and very important goals that I cannot say. The Kursk operation brought several things - the occupation of the Kharkiv region was stopped. We had information about the creation of buffer zones in the Kharkiv region, and then in the north - we understood that the Sumy region, Chernihiv region could be in the plans ... The sequence of the desire for these buffer zones was unknown to us, but we understood that this could be. The Kursk operation resolved the issue of not the occupation of the Sumy region and not the occupation of the Chernihiv region. And it also defeated a large number of troops."
14:10 The Russian Army concentrated a significant number of troops in the Kursk direction and planned an offensive operation in this direction, Syrsky reported. Therefore, according to him, the goal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region was to create a security zone, stop shelling from the territory of the Russian Federation, protect civilian objects in the Sumy region, and preempt the enemy. Another task was to divert significant enemy forces from other directions.
13:50 Publics write that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have taken control of the village of Kazachya Loknya in the Kursk region.
13:31 Russia has transferred 30,000 troops from Ukraine to the Kursk direction, Syrsky reported: "The Kursk operation has diverted a significant number of troops. At the moment, we can state that about 30,000 troops have already been transferred to the Kursk direction, and this figure is growing." In particular, because of this, the enemy has reduced its activity in the south. At the same time, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added that the enemy is trying to withdraw units from other directions, while in Pokrovsk, on the contrary, it is increasing its efforts.
Syrsky also reported that in the Kursk region the Ukrainian Armed Forces already control 1,294 square kilometers and about 100 populated areas, and 594 Russian servicemen have been taken prisoner.