President Volodimir Zelenski said today that the Ukrainian army is continuing its operations in the Russian Kursk region, contradicting Moscow’s announcement yesterday, Saturday, for a complete “liberation” of this border region by Russian troops.

“Our forces continue their defensive operations in the designated zones of (Russian) regions of Kursk and Belgorod,” he said on social media.

Ukrainian army officials described yesterday the statements of the Russian Army General Staff, denouncing the “propaganda” of Moscow on the issue.

Yesterday, several Russian channels in the Telegram watching the evolution of the battles also said that the battles between Russians and Ukrainians continue in the Kursk region.

However, the head of the Russian Army General Staff Valeri Gerasimov announced yesterday to President Vladimir Putin that this Russian border region was completely “liberated” by the Ukrainian troops.

Kiev forces invaded the Kursk region in August 2024, occupying some pockets.

Vladimir Putin had in the past implied that he was not ready to negotiate for the end of the war, which erupted with the invasion of his forces in Ukraine in February 2022, as long as the Ukrainian forces were not fully expelled from the region.

For several weeks, the Ukrainian troops have retreated from this area of ​​the front, with the Russian army recovering a little bit of ground.

Since August 2024, Ukrainian troops initially occupied hundreds of square kilometers, before the pocket under control has reduced to a small extent in recent days.

Ukrainian leaders had justified this surprise attack by saying that they wanted a new negotiating paper in the event of peace talks.

Volodimir Zelenski recently proposed to Russia to agree on a “exchange” of soil, something Moscow, whose army is promoted elsewhere on the front, categorically rejected.

On the battlefield, the Russian army still bombarded cities and villages of Ukraine, as every day since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Today, three people were killed and four others were injured in a Russian bombing in Kostanifka, very close to the front, according to the authorities of the Eastern Donetsk region.