"For Putin, driving us out of Kursk Oblast is paramount. Demonstrative strikes with new missiles are no coincidence. He wants to push us out by 20 January next year. It's critical for him to showcase control over a situation he does not actually control," said Zelenskyy.On 21 November, Russia struck Dnipro with a Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle missile carrying conventional warheads. Ukraine identified it as an intermediate-range ballistic missile launched from a Kedr missile system. Russia has never used such a weapon against Ukraine before. An investigation into the attack and assessment of the damage is ongoing. Speaking at the food security conference, the Ukrainian president emphasized that the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast highlights the inability of Putin's regime to defend Russian territory, as all Russian military resources are concentrated on Ukraine's occupied territories.
"We intercepted a communication on the Kursk front where Putin, through his commanders, personally appeals to soldiers, saying the entire fate of the 'special military operation' hinges on the Kursk campaign," Zelenskyy said.Earlier, a source in the Ukrainian military said that Kyiv's operation in Kursk Oblast disrupted Russia's offensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The occupiers were forced to redeploy one of their most combat-ready units from Zaporizhzhia Oblast to Russia for defense.
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