Explaining complex things in simple words: developments in Kursk region, POW release strategy, Russia’s provocations

EVENTS IN KURSK REGION

On August 12, during a meeting of the Headquarters, the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, reported that Ukrainian forces control about 1,000 sq km of Russian territory in the Kursk oblast and continue to conduct an offensive operation.

 This is the first official statement of the Ukrainian authorities regarding the offensive in the Kursk oblast of the Russian Federation.

 During a week of fighting, Ukraine took control of the same amount of territory as Russian troops occupied in 2024.

 Ukraine clearly observes international humanitarian law. The President instructed those in charge to prepare a humanitarian plan for the territory of the operation.

 Russia brought the war to Ukraine, and now the war is returning to Russia.

 Putin's rule was symbolically begun with the Kursk submarine disaster. After 24 years, the Kursk oblast will become Putin's war catastrophe.

PRISONERS OF WAR RELEASE STRATEGY

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed the structures responsible for prisoners of war exchanges to present a clear strategy for the release of Ukrainians from Russian captivity.

 It is fundamental for Ukraine to return all our people from Russian captivity. Kyiv has repeatedly taken the initiative to exchange all for all.

 Russia does not comply with the norms of international law regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. In captivity, our soldiers are in danger of their lives and health.

 Russian special services use the factor of prisoners in attempts to inflame contradictions within Ukrainian society: to oppose relatives of prisoners to the authorities, as well as to pit relatives of different categories of prisoners against each other.

 Structures responsible for exchanges must actively communicate with relatives of prisoners of war as much as possible: explain how exchange lists are compiled and other issues.

 The Defense Forces are actively replenishing the exchange fund during the offensive in the Kursk oblast. Russian border guards of the FSB, Kadyrov fighters, and military personnel surrender en masse.

RUSSIAN PROVOCATIONS

The Security Service of Ukraine records the attempts of the Russian special services to use the situation in the Kursk oblast for baseless accusations of Ukrainian defenders of committing war crimes.

 War crimes are the handwriting of the Russian occupiers. They left bloody traces in Bucha, Mariupol, Izium, Kherson, etc. The facts of Russian crimes are carefully documented and investigated.

 The Defense Forces of Ukraine strictly follow the rules and customs of warfare. In particular, both regarding the treatment of Russian prisoners of war and the civilian population.

 Russian special services may resort to attempts to stage crimes against the civilian population of the Kursk oblast to further accuse the Ukrainian side of committing them.

 Such attempts will not affect either the offensive actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the position of Ukraine's international partners.

 The greatest threat to the Russian civilian population in the war zone is the Russian army, which has already begun indiscriminate bombing of settlements in Kursk oblast.

Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security