According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, Ukraine’s attacks on Kursk have failed to divert Russian forces from Donbas.

“[Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s regime has not achieved its main goal – to distract Russian armed forces from Donbas and Slobozhanshchina,” she said in a statement on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

Referring the Ukrainian terrorist attack on the Kursk Region, Zakharova stated, “The criminal regime of the expired [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy continues to demonstrate its true neo-Nazi nature to the whole world.” “

“As the situation in Donbass is dire for Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian government ordered a terrorist attack on the territories of the Kursk Region that are close to the border.”

“Kyiv didn’t make it a secret that they intended this step to improve their own negotiating positions in the future, which Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of staff at Zelensky’s office, stated on August 8 without any hesitation.”
Maria Zakharova

She claimed that Ukrainian Banderite armed formations indiscriminately fire on civilians as they are trying to evacuate from dangerous areas, shell residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, and engage in outright looting.

“Captured Ukrainian fighters admit that they received a command that, if civilians put up any resistance, they should mercilessly shoot everyone on the spot.”
Maria Zakharova

Zakharova said all these facts, including the fact that Ukrainian forces are attacking Russian territory with the complicity of their NATO patrons, “fully confirm the relevance of the goals and objectives of the special military operation to de-Nazify and demilitarize Ukraine, which will definitely be accomplished.”

She expressed confidence that “the Kyiv regime of usurpers, which is rotten from within, is held in place solely with money from the West,” adding that its collapse is “only a matter of time.”

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy claimed that his forces were advancing, but Russia, on the other hand, said it has thwarted attempts by Ukrainian forces to push deeper into five areas in the Kursk region.

“The attempts by enemy mobile units using armoured equipment to break through deeper into Russian territory have been repelled,” the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Kyiv’s Incursion Into Kursk Not Making Entire Change To Face Of War

Pavel Felgenhauer, a defence analyst and columnist for a Russian newspaper, opined that Kyiv’s incursion into Kursk is a failure for Russian intelligence, but the move still “is not entirely changing the face of war.”

“It’s a big surprise for the West that Ukraine had gathered such a capability for an offensive action. I think it was a surprise to many in Kyiv, actually,” Felgenhauer told a news agency, adding that the incursion represents “a tactical success”.

“They have grabbed territory, they have mixed up Russian overall plans, but this offensive in the north and this breakthrough has not yet brought strategic fruit. This is not entirely changing the face of war.”
Pavel Felgenhauer

Moreover, the defence analyst and columnist stated that the Kremlin is in “a bit of a dilemma” over what to do next.

He said that during the offensive of many months in Donbas, Russia has run out of battle-ready reserves.

He added that in order to push Ukrainian forces out, “they need to do something very radical and it’s not clear how that’s going to be done.”

“Of course, Moscow does not want to pull out from pieces of Donbas that were taken back from such a loss of money and lives to push the Ukrainians out of Kursk. “It’s a bit of a dilemma now for the Kremlin what comes next and it’s a dilemma for the Ukrainians and what they do next.”
Pavel Felgenhauer