KYIV, August 22 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's assault on Russia's Kursk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a bluff, and he urged Kyiv's allies to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces now controlled more than 1,250 square kilometers (483 square miles) and 92 settlements in Kursk region, while Russia said Ukraine had struck a third bridge in the region, complicating Russian efforts to repel the Ukrainian attack.Â
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Ukraine launched its surprise strike on the Russian region on Aug. 6, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two, in an operation that Kyiv says is aimed at carving out a buffer zone and wearing down Russia's war machine. Speaking to a gathering of Ukrainian diplomats, Zelensky singled out allies who have supplied long-range weapons but told Kyiv they cannot use them deep inside Russia for fear of crossing "red lines" set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We are witnessing a significant ideological shift – the naive, illusory concept of so-called red lines regarding Russia, which dominated the assessment of the war by some partners, has crumbled apart these days," Zelensky said.Â
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He said Ukraine, because of the restrictions imposed by allies, could not use the weapons at its disposal to hit some Russian military targets. He urged allies to be bolder in their decisions about how to help Kyiv in the war. "The world sees that everything in this war depends only on courage - our courage, the courage of our partners. On brave decisions for Ukraine, on courage in supporting Ukraine," Zelensky said. Despite its thrust into Russia, Ukraine's forces are on the defensive elsewhere. They face a battle to protect the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, where Russia has steadily advanced in recent weeks in heavy fighting more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion.Â
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Ukraine's military said late on Monday its forces had fought 63 skirmishes over the course of the day against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front, and it expected that area to remain the focus of Russian attacks. Ukraine's military said late on Monday its forces had fought 63 skirmishes over the course of the day against Russian forces on the Pokrovsk front, and it expected that area to remain the focus of Russian attacks. Russia said a third bridge had been struck and damaged on the Seym River that winds through the Kursk region bordering northeastern Ukraine. Ukraine has not yet commented on the strike, but Kyiv's air force chief has said his forces have destroyed two bridges to weaken enemy logistics. Military analysts said the bridges were part of critical supply lines for Russian troops defending the area. Reuters could not independently confirm the damage to the bridges or the battlefield situation in Kursk.Â
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Source: reuters.com Â
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