Zelensky also noted Ukraine’s "limited activity" in the Kursk region of southern Russia, indicating Kyiv’s aim to divert Moscow’s focus from the Donetsk front in eastern Ukraine.
Russia previously asserted that it had repelled all Ukrainian attempts to cross the border into Belgorod.
But in his nightly address, Zelensky publicly thanked Ukraine's 225th Assault Regiment for its operations there and said Ukraine’s main goal is to safeguard its own Sumy and Kharkiv regions while pressuring Russia to commit more troops away from Ukraine’s occupied territories.
Moscow, which launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 and currently holds around 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, has denied dragging its feet on US-backed ceasefire efforts.
Washington has criticized Russia’s "bombing spree," while Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih recently held funerals for 20 missile-attack victims.
Ukraine's recent cross-border forays—smaller in scale than last year's push in Kursk—may bolster Kyiv’s position in potential peace negotiations.
However, some analysts question whether these incursions are worth the reported combat losses and logistical hurdles they impose, given the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine.
(jh/gs)
Source: BBC, The Kyiv Independent