President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Monday, 6 January, that Ukraine continues to maintain a buffer zone in Russia's Kursk Oblast five months after launching the operation. Source: Zelenskyy in an evening address on 6 January Quote: "Second - the Kursk operation.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces have been maintaining a buffer zone in Russia’s Kursk region for the past five months, inflicting on the enemy over 38,000 casualties in the area, including 15,000 killed in action.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been conducting an operation in the Kursk region for five months. This is forcing the Russian army to deploy significant forces in this direction, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"During the Kursk operation, the enemy has already lost 38,000 of their soldiers in this direction alone, with nearly 15,000 of these losses being irreversible," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

Both Russian and Ukrainian official confirmed the fresh offensive into the Kursk region on Sunday. The Defense Ministry in Moscow said that Russian forces had pushed back Ukrainian troops, though online bloggers said Moscow faced major pressure.

Russia said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a new attack in the Kursk region, an area of western Russia from which Russian troops have been trying to eject Ukrainian forces for the past five months.

In a short post on Telegram, Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said: "Kursk, good news, Russia is getting what it deserves."