Zelenskyy's office comments on fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast for the first time
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President's Office, commented on the fighting in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. He predicts that there would be no "adequate reaction" of the population to the counter-war, his social media post says.
Podolyak called the Russian opposition's assumption that their people do not support their leader Vladimir Putin and the war with Ukraine a "fatal mistake." He also disagreed with the opinion that the results of polls in the Russian Federation, which show "mass approval of the war by Russians," are false.
Podolyak said that the events in the Kursk or Belgorod oblasts make it possible to set up "a certain laboratory experiment."
"While the repressive machine of the Russian Federation burns in the bushes, freed Russians can go out with flowers to meet the anti-Putin tanks. ‘Liberty at last!’ Let's wait for such snaps. Although the impossibility of this is already obvious," says the adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief-of-staff.
According to him, the lack of an "adequate reaction" to the counter-war will only confirm the opinion about Russians’ "strong conscious relationship" with their government.
"We endlessly curse Putin, and, of course, justifiably. And yet I want to ask: who signed a million contracts with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and who commits thousands of concrete crimes? Podolyak added.
What is happening in Kursk Oblast?
Against the background of reports of Russian "milbloggers" about a border breach in Kursk Oblast, Russian leader Vladimir Putin called out a "large-scale provocation" on the part of Ukraine. At the same time, the military leadership of Ukraine had not commented on the events in Kursk Oblast.
Meanwhile, the Kursk regiOblastonal governor stated that the region "for the last day has been heroically resisting the attacks of the Ukrainian Nazis." All emergency services of the region have been put into enhanced mode of operation. In the border areas of the region, medical institutions replenish the supply of donor blood.
Andrey Loktionov, chief non-staff surgeon of the region, reported 28 casualties. The day before, the authorities of the region reported that at least three locals had died during the day.
Neither the Ministry of Defense of Russia nor the local authorities reported on the alleged advance of Ukrainian forces in the region. Meanwhile, the Russian "milbloggers" claim that the Ukrainian troops have already occupied the settlements of Nikolaevo-Daryino, Daryino and Sverdlikovo in the Sudzha district of Kursk Oblast.
The regional governor confirmed that residents are being evacuated from the border areas. Meanwhile, in Kursk online groups and channels, the number of posts with a request to find and help take out relatives from settlements, who, according to locals, have not been contacted is increasing.