Podolyak said that Kiev had not publicly discussed the attack on the Kursk region with the West
Ukraine has not publicly informed Western allies about the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region, said Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine. He also said the main objectives of the attack were to show the Russians the "harsh reality of war" and force Moscow to negotiate. In Russia, they are sure that NATO is behind the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the border area, while in the West they deny that they were preparing an operation of the Ukrainian army.
The Ukrainian leadership informed Western partners about the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. This was stated by the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, to the Independent.
"There are certain things that need to be done with the element of surprise and that need to happen locally.
Podolyak said.
According to him, the purpose of the operation in the Kursk region is "to show the Russians the harsh reality of war."
"We need to use absolutely clear tools to force Russia [to negotiate]. One of them is a military instrument of coercion," Podolyak says.
At the same time, in his opinion, the operation alone in the Kursk region will not be enough.
"[Russians] do not discuss the war, and they generally feel quite comfortable, because there is a war going on somewhere, someone is killing. They are interested in watching on TV. But when the war moves to the territory of Russia, they are, of course, scared. They're in shock. This has a significant impact on the psychological state of Russia. It is also an instrument of influence," Podolyak said.
In the USA, the involvement is denied
The United States did not participate in the preparation of the APU attack on the Kursk region, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said earlier.
"We are definitely not involved in any aspect of the planning or preparation of this operation. Generally speaking, we intend to continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend against attacks and aggression by the Russian Federation," Jean-Pierre said at a briefing the day before (quoted by RIA Novosti).
Earlier, the deputy official representative of the US State Department Vedant Patel refused to recognize the US involvement in the attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Kursk region.
"Our role is to support Ukraine in its ability to defend itself. We remain focused on ensuring that our Ukrainian partners have everything they need to do this," Patel said.
Russia is confident that the West is leading Ukraine's actions
"Apparently, the enemy is using his Western masters, he is fulfilling their will, and the West is fighting with us with the hands of Ukrainians - so, apparently, the enemy is striving to improve its negotiating positions in the future," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting to discuss the situation in the border region.
Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the FSB of Russia, also pointed to the support of the "collective West".
"The Kiev regime, with the support of the collective West, carried out an attack on civilian facilities and civilians in the border area," Bortnikov said at a meeting of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee.
In addition, the commander of the Akhmat special forces, Major General Apty Alaudinov, spoke about the involvement of the "command of the headquarters of the NATO bloc itself".
"This is an unambiguous question, because Ukrainians themselves are unlikely to be able to formulate such a thing," Alaudinov said in a comment for military correspondent Semyon Pegov (quoted by TASS).
Alexey Permyakov
