NATO Caught Off Guard: Stoltenberg Reveals Ukraine Launched Surprise Kursk Region Offensive Without Alliance’s Advance Knowledge

“Ukraine did not present its Kursk plans to NATO in advance and the alliance played no role,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told the German Welt newspaper.

About 10,000 Ukrainian troops entered Russia’s Kursk region on August 6. Kiev claims to control about 100 settlements and more than 1,000 square km of Russian territory there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the purpose of entering the Kursk region is to create a buffer zone to prevent Moscow’s attacks on the Sumy region of Ukraine, which has been heavily affected by Russian attacks, BTA reported.

Moscow accuses NATO countries of supporting Kiev in its invasion by supplying arms and ammunition to the Ukrainian army and providing it with intelligence.

Stoltenberg described Ukraine’s cross-border offensive as legitimate.

“For more than 900 days, Russia has waged an unprovoked war against Ukraine and carried out countless attacks against Ukraine from the Kursk region. Russian troops, tanks and bases are legitimate targets under international law,” he said. to the newspaper.

“Like every military operation, this one is also associated with risks. But Ukraine decides for itself how to defend itself,” he added.

As Moscow struggles to stop Kiev’s counteroffensive, Russian troops recently captured a number of villages in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, DPA noted.

Heavy fighting takes place near Pokrovsk, a strategically important city with a railway junction. If Pokrovsk falls, it could set the stage for Russian advances toward larger cities and bring Moscow closer to controlling the entire Donetsk region, the agency added.