Zelenskyy raises issue of establishing military commandant’s offices in Russia’s Kursk Oblast – video
Pravda Ukraine
At a special meeting on Wednesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought up the issue of establishing military commandant’s offices in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which is under the control of the Ukrainian Defence Forces, if necessary.
Source: the President’s social media; Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets; Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk
Quote: ” [We’ve had] a meeting on the situation in Kursk Oblast. We discussed [some of the] key issues: security, humanitarian aid, establishment of military commandant’s offices if necessary.
Ukraine is protecting itself and the lives of its people in the border hromadas and is taking actions on the Russian territory [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.].”
Details: Zelenskyy stressed that Ukrainian forces strictly adhere to the requirements of international conventions and international humanitarian law.
The released video shows that the meeting with the President was attended by the head of the President’s Office Andrii Yermak; Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko; Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal; Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk; Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi (via video link).
Updated: Lubinets added in his post on social media that in exercising its right to self-defence, according to Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine has the right not only to defend itself, but also to comply with all international conventions and requirements of international humanitarian law.
Therefore, the Ukrainian military formed a buffer zone in Kursk Oblast for the purposes of self-defence.
Lubinets said that the meeting participants also discussed the issue of access for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN and other impartial international organisations to carry out humanitarian activities. Officials stationed in the buffer zone should ensure the supply of food, medicines and other items necessary for the civilian population, the Ombudsman stressed.
Iryna Vereshchuk, in turn, stressed that Russian civilians within the buffer zone are protected by international humanitarian law, which Ukraine fully complies with.
Therefore, the Ukrainian military plans to:
- Carry out humanitarian operations to support civilians within the zone.
- Open the humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians towards both Russia and Ukraine.
- Start the admission of international humanitarian organisations to the area for the purpose of humanitarian response and monitoring of the humanitarian situation.
Relevant preparations and consultations are currently underway, the Deputy Prime Minister added.
Previously: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stressed that Ukraine was not interested in taking territory in Kursk Oblast, but wanted to protect the lives of its own people, and the operation prevented the Russians from redeploying additional units to Donetsk Oblast and complicated their logistics.
Background:
- On the morning of 6 August, the Russians claimed that Ukrainian forces had mounted an attempt to infiltrate Kursk Oblast, Russia. Russian propagandists and military bloggers are claiming that Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold in the border area. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin called the situation a “provocation”.
- On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were “under enemy control”.
- As of 12 August, Ukrainian forces established control over approximately 44 settlements in Kursk Oblast, according to the DeepState analytical project.
- Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at the meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that Ukrainian troops continued to conduct an offensive operation in Kursk Oblast. “Currently, we have about 1,000 square kilometres of the Russian Federation under our control… The situation is under our control,” he said.
- On 14 August, Syrskyi said that since the beginning of the day, more than 100 Russian soldiers had been captured in Kursk Oblast.
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