Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that Ukraine’s ongoing incursion into his country has failed to deflect his forces from making advances in eastern Ukraine.
On Monday, Putin described Ukraine’s cross-border offensive into Russia’s western region of Kursk as an attempt to halt Russian operations in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces began their offensive nearly one month ago.
Putin said, “The result is known.” He claimed Russia’s advance in Donbas is speeding up and that Ukraine’s attempt to prompt Russia to redeploy its troops from the area is failing.
The British Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Russian forces have accelerated their advance toward the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine over the last seven days. The ministry said the forces are “highly likely within 10 kilometers from the edge of the city.”
Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said on social media on Sunday that the situation is difficult in the direction of the enemy’s main attack, repeating his concern from last week about the Pokrovsk front.