by Temitope Oladeji
8/4/2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has, for the first time, publicly confirmed that Ukrainian troops are conducting operations within Russia’s Belgorod region to safeguard Ukrainian towns along the border.
Zelensky disclosed this during his nightly video address on Monday, the Ukrainian president said that Ukrainian forces remain active in parts of Russia’s neighboring Kursk region, in the past eight months after an initial cross-border operation,n although Russian troops have since retaken significant portions of that territory.
“Our top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, delivered a report on the front line, our presence in the Kursk region, and our presence in the Belgorod region,” Zelenskyy stated.
He further said, “We continue active operations in the enemy’s border areas, and this is justified. The war must return to where it came from.”
The Ukrainian President emphasized that Ukraine’s primary objective is to defend communities in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv from Russian aggression.
He further praised the 225th Assault Regiment for its role in the operations, commending its performance in the heavily contested areas.
The Ukrainian leader reiterated Kyiv’s long-standing position that, despite Russian forces regaining ground in Kursk in recent weeks, the Ukrainian incursion successfully diverted Russian troops away from critical zones along the main front in Donetsk.
“As a result of the entire Kursk operation, we managed to ease pressure on other key areas of the front line, especially in the Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy said.
This confirmation follows Zelenskyy’s earlier vague references to Ukrainian military movements “slightly below the Kursk region,” a comment which was widely interpreted as an acknowledgment of Ukrainian activity in the Belgorod region of Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers have reported ongoing clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Belgorod.
On Sunday, Moscow claimed its troops had captured the village of Basivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, across from Kursk, and continued to intensify attacks on Ukrainian positions in several locations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called for the creation of a security buffer zone along the border to shield Russian territories from Ukrainian attacks.