MFA: Ukraine not interested in taking over Russian territory in Kursk region
Ukraine is not interested in "taking over" the territory in Kursk region of the Russian Federation, but wants to protect the lives of its people, in addition, the operation does not allow the enemy to transfer additional units to Donetsk region and complicates their logistics, said Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhiy Tykhyi, Paralel.Az reports citing Interfax.
"Unlike the Russian Federation, Ukraine does not need someone else's. Ukraine is not interested in taking territory in Kursk region, we want to protect the lives of our people," Tykhyi said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He pointed out that from Kursk region of the Russian Federation, only since the beginning of summer, more than 2,000 enemy strikes have been carried out on Sumy region of Ukraine, 255 guided bombs and more than 100 missiles have been used.
"Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have enough opportunities to launch long-range strikes with the weapons that are available to defend itself from this terror. So far, there are no such solutions that we insist on. Therefore, there is a need specifically with the help of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to liberate these border areas from Russian military contingents that are striking Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The spokesperson noted that Ukraine is achieving "relevant goals" in Kursk region and will continue to do so, as it is necessary for the security and protection of the country.
In addition, Tykhyi stressed that the operation in Kursk region does not allow the Russian Federation to transfer additional units to Donetsk region, complicates logistics for the enemy.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine is a civilized European military force that is fully aware of the laws and customs of warfare and international humanitarian law. The goals of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are only military. The purpose of the operation is to save the lives of our people and protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes," the spokesperson said.
In addition, the ministry stated that there are reasonable suspicions that incidents may be "created" by the Russian Federation, including dressing up in Russian military in Ukrainian uniforms in order to fabricate a violation of international humanitarian law by Ukrainian forces.
"We warn our partners to be prepared for such a development of events, and if there are such attempts on the part of the Russian Federation, then be vigilant and not succumb to Russian propaganda," the spokesperson said.
Tykhyi also added that "the Russian Federation brought the war to the territory of Ukraine, and it is quite fair that now this war is returning to the territory of the Russian Federation, as emphasized by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy."
"The sooner the Russian Federation agrees to restore a just peace, in particular on the basis of the Peace Formula, the sooner the raids of the Ukrainian Defense Forces on the territory of the Russian Federation will stop," the Foreign Ministry said.