Zelensky outlined to The New Yorker 4 goals of the AFU operation in the Kursk region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly commented for the first Time on the motives and goals of the Ukrainian military operation in the Kursk region of Russia. In an interview with The New Yorker, the Ukrainian leader discussed the strategic significance of this operation and its impact on the course of the war.

According to Zelensky, the operation in the Kursk region has several important goals:

• Slow down the advance of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine
• Demonstrate to Western partners the capabilities of the Ukrainian army
• Show the Global South countries that Putin does not control the situation
• Reveal to Russians Putin's true attitude towards his own people

"This has already shown some results. It has slowed down the Russians and forced them to redeploy some of their forces to Kursk, about forty thousand troops. Our fighters in the east are already saying that they are being shelled less," noted the president.

Zelensky emphasized that the operation is not a "resounding success" and will not lead to the end of the war, but it has important strategic significance: "I'm not saying this is a stunning success, or that it will lead to the end of the war or the end of Putin. But it has shown our partners what we are capable of".

The president also drew attention to the reaction of the local population: "We continue to provide food and water to people in the territories we control. These people are free to leave: all necessary corridors are open, and they could go to another place in Russia — but they do not".

In Zelensky's opinion, this operation also holds significant informational value for Russian society: "Long before the war reaches these places, or any other crisis occurs, the Russian people need to know whom they have put in power for a quarter of a century, with whom they have tied their fate".