“Thousands” of Ukrainian soldiers are taking part in the invasion of Russian territory Kurskwhich aims to disperse Moscow’s forces and “destabilize” Russia, a senior Ukrainian security official told AFP last night.

“We are on the attack. The goal is to disperse the enemy’s positions, inflict maximum losses on them, destabilize the situation in Russia, as they are unable to protect their own borders, and transfer the war to Russian territory,” the official said on condition of anonymity. .

On Wednesday, the Russian military announced that Ukraine had sent 1,000 troops to its invasion of the Kursk region, an operation of unprecedented scale, which took place two and a half years after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There are many more there,” said the Ukrainian official, estimating their number to be “thousands.”

For days, Ukrainian authorities have been tight-lipped about the operation, which appears to have taken the Kremlin by surprise and allowed the Ukrainians to penetrate, according to analysts, at least 15 kilometers deep into Russian territory.

For the first time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged this operation in his daily address last night, confirming that Kiev is seeking to “take the war” to Russia.

A surprise attack, which according to the Ukrainian official who spoke to AFP last night, has revived the morale of the society and the Ukrainian armed forces, which have been exhausted by the two and a half years of the Russian invasion.

“It’s a very good business,” which “caught the Russians napping” and “it really boosted our morale, that of the Ukrainian army, the State and society,” the official said. After months of retreats on the eastern front, “this operation showed that we can attack and advance.”

As the Ukrainian official noted, the invasion was initially aimed at diverting Russian forces from the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv (northeast) and Dobas (east) in order to ease their pressure on Kiev’s outnumbered and undermanned troops. equipments.

However, the invasion does not appear to have affected the eastern front so far, the official admitted.

“In principle, the situation has not changed. Their pressure in the east continues, they have not withdrawn their troops from this zone,” even if “the intensity of Russian attacks in the east has decreased very little,” the Ukrainian official stressed.

Sooner or later, according to him, Russia will “stop” the Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, but if “after some time it does not manage to recover these territories, they can be used for political purposes”, for example, during peace negotiations, the official estimates.

He said that Russia was preparing a massive missile attack against “decision centers” in Ukraine to respond to this attack.

He also claimed that Ukraine’s western allies had been warned about the invasion.

“Since Western weapons are currently being used” in this operation, “our Western partners were indirectly involved in its organization,” it said.

The White House said Wednesday it had contacted Ukraine to learn more about the “goals” of the invasion.

The Ukrainian official assured that Ukraine fully respected international humanitarian law during its invasion of Russia and that it had no intention of annexing the zones it had currently occupied.

“There is no idea of ​​annexation… We act in full respect of international law,” he underlined.

“It is very important that Ukraine does not violate any treaty, we strictly respect humanitarian law: We do not execute prisoners, we do not rape women, we do not loot,” the Ukrainian security official pointed out.

“Bucha, Irpin, all this has not happened and will not happen,” he added, referring to the atrocities attributed to Russian troops in these Ukrainian cities in early 2022.

Asked if he knows whether the seizure of the Kursk nuclear power plant, near the border, is among the objectives of the operation, he replied: “We will see (…). We certainly won’t cause nuclear safety problems.”