Russian troops were advancing faster in the Pokrovsk sector before the Kursk operation started, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference on Aug. 27 in response to a question by the Kyiv Independent.
When asked by a Kyiv Independent reporter about the benefits of the Kursk incursion in regards to Russia's ongoing push toward Pokrovsk, Zelensky claimed that Moscow's advance had slowed down.
The Pokrovsk sector has been the scene of fierce fighting for several months and a focal point of Russia's offensive in Donetsk Oblast.
Zelensky said earlier that Pokrovsk, an important logistical hub for Ukrainian forces that supports their operations in the region, became Russia's main target after its Kharkiv Oblast offensive failed.
According to the crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState, Russian troops have been advancing towards Pokrovsk throughout the three weeks of the ongoing Kursk operation.
On Aug. 15, the military administration of Pokrovsk called on residents to evacuate immediately, as the Russian army was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the town's outskirts.
Russian troops are not retreating and will continue to push on the embattled eastern sector, Zelensky said.
"They (Russia) need it, like the situation with Bakhmut. They will throw 50,000-60,000 people there. You will see it. You will understand these numbers very soon... There must be tricks. We are not bigger than Russia," the president said.
"At the peace summit, we should be in a strong situation. Of course, everything will end with a dialog. But we need to have strong positions for this dialog."
Previously, Zelensky said that the Kursk incursion into Russia is related to Ukraine's upcoming second peace summit and is one of "the stages to end the war."
One of the objectives of Kursk Oblast operation was to divert a significant number of Russian forces from other sectors, primarily from the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Syrskyi said that Moscow has redeployed about 30,000 of its troops from other sectors to the Kursk direction, "and this number is growing." At the same time, Russia deployed its most combat-ready units in the Pokrovsk sector, he added.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
