Ukrainian command is denying that its forces are in danger of being surrounded by Russian troops and their North Korean allies. Ukrainian troops have been on the back foot ever since Trump first ended weapons shipments and then stopped intelligence sharing in an effort to pressure Ukraine to agree to peace talks. U.S. aid has since been restored.
“Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ of Ukrainian units in the Kursk region by the enemy are untrue and are being created by the Russians for political purposes and pressure on Ukraine and partners,” Ukrainian Army General Staff said in a statement. “The situation has not changed significantly over the past day. Combat operations in the operational zone of the ‘Kursk’ group of forces continue,” it said.
“Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine have regrouped, withdrawn to more advantageous defense lines and are carrying out the tasks assigned to them on the territory of the Kursk region,” the General Staff added. “There is no threat of encirclement of our units.”
Three soldiers fighting in the Kursk area also said Trump’s claim is, so far, untrue, but the situation of Ukrainian forces is not easy.
“The Russians have still not been able to take our forces into full operational and strategic encirclement,” Artem Kariakin, a soldier stationed in the region, told POLITICO. “They make demands for this, but we resist. Most of the forces managed to be withdrawn under the threat of the situation, so that this would not be allowed.”
“The big problem is the large concentration of all types of Russian drones over this zone, due to which the logistics are still affected, but we continue to leave this zone and enter it for work every day,” Kariakin said.
