The UN mission is ready to visit the territory of the Kursk region controlled by Ukraine only if Russia allows it.
This was stated by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, Voice of America reports.
This is how he reacted to Ukraineʼs call to join humanitarian measures in the Kursk region, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Red Cross has not yet commented on Ukraineʼs invitation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov called Ukraineʼs appeal to international organizations a "provocation" and added that Russia expects the UN and ICRC not to accept this invitation.
After that, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tyhiy, noted that Peskovʼs statement only shows that Russia ignores the humanitarian needs of its citizens and does not allow international observers to see the real situation in the Kursk region.
The Kursk operation
For the first time, it became known about the offensive of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation on August 6 — then Russian telegram channels and "military corps" wrote about it.
Ukraine officially confirmed the operation only on August 12. As of September 6, Ukraine controlled at least 1 300 km² and 100 settlements in this region, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces captured more than 600 occupiers.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky informed that Russia had withdrawn approximately 60 000 of its troops from other areas of the front in Ukraine to the Kursk region.
For self-defense, the Ukrainian military formed a buffer zone on the territory of the Kursk region. On August 15, Ukraine created the first military command post there.
- Ukraine declares that it complies with international obligations in certain areas and the Geneva Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War.