It has been five months since Ukraine launched the counter-offensive in the Russian border region of Kursk, Volodymyr Zelenskyy points out in a video clip posted on social media on Monday evening.
And we continue to maintain a buffer zone on Russian territory, where we actively damage Russian military capabilities, says the Ukrainian president.
He reports large but difficult to verify losses on the opposing side: 38,000 Russian soldiers put out of action, of which 15,000 were killed.
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainians are thus preventing Russia from attacking with full force. This weekend, information came from several sources that Ukraine has begun to attack with new force in Kursk.
The Ukrainian president primarily addresses the situation on Ukrainian soil and then specifically mentions the defense of Pokrovsk in the east, where Russian forces have approached the city and are said to be trying to surround it.
Zelensky, on the other hand, does not mention the town of Kurachove, which lies a little further south along the front and which Russia said on Monday it had taken full control over. Independent observers have previously said that Kurachove is now under Russian control, but fighting is apparently still ongoing on its outskirts.