President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the russians will do everything to cross the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. Also, according to him, the enemy has concentrated about 50,000 troops in the Sumy direction. The head of state announced this during a conversation with journalists, Ukrinform reports.
“They will do everything to cross the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast. They want it. So far, they have not succeeded. They want to capture Pokrovsk, and they continue with unchanged actions. The Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts remain the very strategic goals they’ve had since 2014”, - Zelensky said.
He also confirmed the russians’ intention to create a so-called 10-kilometer buffer zone in the Sumy oblast.
“Right now, they are building up troops in the Sumy direction. Over 50,000. We understand. But we’re having successes there. Today (the President’s meeting with journalists took place on May 27 – ed.) we took, for example, 8 prisoners near Tetkino”, - the President said.
According to him, the strongest russian forces have been concentrated in the Kursk direction.
“To push our troops out of the Kursk oblast and prepare for offensive actions on Sumy. To build this buffer zone, as they call it, 10 kilometers deep into Ukraine. I think they understand that they lack those capabilities. That’s the current situation. Although in the Kursk area, I believe our troops did the right thing. They withdrew from one direction and entered another on the Kursk front. Our guys have made good progress there. So we’re holding that position until the russians decide to end the war or at least take the first step—ceasefire”, - the head of state emphasized.
He also noted that the russians are constantly carrying out offensive actions, but have failed to launch a large-scale operation.
“The troop buildup specifically in the Sumy direction, which they had been preparing from the Kursk direction, they weren’t able to carry out due to our corresponding actions. Just like in the Pokrovsk direction, in Kostiantynivka, we had problems, but there were successful battles. Over the past two days, we pushed them back 4 kilometers near Kostiantynivka. So they cannot fully withdraw all their troops from the Pokrovsk direction. Just like they couldn’t redeploy all their troops to Pokrovsk to capture it”, - Zelensky said.
Separately, he described the situation in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions.
“We’ve seen the reports from the Zaporizhzhia direction. Their objectives remain unchanged. There are some fantasists among them who keep talking about a Kherson offensive operation across the river. But clearly, it’s those very people—who I’m not sure are sober—russians who don’t care how many people die. To force the river, we know what that means in the Kherson oblast. Right now, it’s absolutely impossible”, - the President emphasized.