Ukraine’s General Staff refutes Putin's claim about alleged Russian offensive from Kursk region

Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

“Amidst general not good mood in our social networks, the Russians are trying to spread additional fake news, particularly regarding some breakthroughs in the Ukrainian defense in the Kursk region and a large-scale advance into Ukraine. This is not true,” noted Lykhovii.

According to him, “as of 3 p.m. on February 19, 12 combat clashes have been recorded in the Kursk region since the beginning of the day, with three of these still ongoing and the rest having already been repelled”.

“One of the repelled attacks, at about six in the morning, was an attempt by a Russian unit to move towards Ukraine’s state border in the Nikolaevo-Daryino-Zhuravka section. The attempt was unsuccessful,” noted Lykhoviy.

He emphasized that “there are no reasons for panic. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to conduct defensive operations in Russia’s Kursk region, destroying the enemy and holding several hundred square kilometers of territory in the aggressor country.”

As reported, earlier on February 19, Putin claimed that he had allegedly been informed that Russian troops had crossed the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region and that Russian forces troops were advancing along the entire contact line.