Zelensky on possible offensive from north: Budanov says he was a little misunderstood

Ukraine's defense forces in the Kharkiv region have done serious work to restrain a powerful Russian offensive from the north and this helped prevent the presence of a strong enemy group in another sector of the front.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this during a press conference on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"After this statement, I called General Budanov [head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate Kyrylo Budanov] and he said that he was a little misunderstood. That is, we understand that offensives can occur. We are at war with the Russians, and an offensive can occur. I believe that the most difficult situation is in the east, in my opinion and in the opinion of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We believe that serious work has been done in the Kharkiv region to make a powerful offensive from the north impossible. Given that it was stopped there, this stop dragged [Russian] troops there from different sectors who were standing along our border, and this made it impossible for them to have a strong group in other sectors," Zelensky said.

Budanov said on July 14 that the situation of Russian attacks on Ukraine from the north was seeing an escalation trend.