The Russians want to completely oust Ukrainian soldiers from the Kursk direction. They have increased the number of their troops there. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a Zoom briefing on March 19, reports UNN.
The plan now is to completely oust us from the Kursk direction. They have increased the number of their troops there. After ousting us, they will strike in the direction of Sumy and then move troops to Kharkiv and, accordingly, to Zaporizhzhia. I cannot say that this will be exactly in this order, in this sequence. We believe that they are preparing for this
The President emphasized that Ukraine does not currently see the Russians' capabilities in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia directions.
For our part, we do not currently see their capabilities in the Kharkiv direction and in the Zaporizhzhia direction. We do not see strong capabilities in the east yet, and (for Sumy - ed.) they are accumulating these troops, but they must completely oust us from there. We are taking certain steps in one direction there, and then we shifted a little and unexpectedly take steps in another direction
Addition
On March 18, Zelenskyy denied the encirclement of Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region, which was previously claimed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Vadym Mysnyk, spokesman for the Siversk operational-tactical group, reported that a significant number of Russian units that were involved in the Kursk operation are observed moving towards the border near the Sumy region. The task of the Defense Forces is to maximally strengthen the defense system and continue to perform tasks both in the Kursk region and near the border.
On March 14, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine had regrouped, retreated to more advantageous lines of defense, and are performing their assigned tasks in the territory of the Kursk region.