Kiev maintains military presence in Russia’s Belgorod region, Zelensky says

Kiev maintains an active military presence in Russia’s West Belgorod region, adjacent to northeastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky said.

At the video address on April 7, he said that Kiev’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Silsky had recently provided reports on the disposal of Ukrainian forces in both Belgorod and in the Russian neighbouring Kursk region.

“We continue to have active operations in enemy border areas, and this is absolutely justified,” Zelenskyy said. “War has to go back to where it came from.”

He said that Kiev’s main purpose is to “protect our lands and communities in the Smie and Kharkiv regions (in northeastern Ukraine) from Russian occupiers.”

In subsequent remarks, Zelenskyy continued to congratulate the performance, saying that the military operation in Belgorod was being carried out by Ukraine’s 225th Assault Regiment.

This is the first time Ukrainian officials have claimed that Kiev has a military presence in Belgorod, which shares a 340-mile border with northeastern Ukraine.

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Belgorod is also adjacent to the Kursk region of Russia. This is located just south.

Last month, Zelensky hinted at the fact that Kiev was engaged in military operations “a little below the Kursk region,” hinting at the secret Ukrainian presence in Belgorod.

Last August, Kiev launched a massive attack on Kursk. There, the Ukrainian troops first acquired hundreds of square miles of Russian territory.

However, since then they have been driven out mostly from the Russian region. There, they are reportedly still holding small pieces of the tiny territory near the border.

On April 8, Russian TASS news agency reported that only two border settlements in Kursk remained under Ukrainian control, following the recent acquisition of Gebo village by Russian troops.

“The only ones who need to release just two settlements now are Gornar and Oleshnya,” a Russian defense source told the press.

“Fighting for these communities is currently underway and our fighters are driving the Ukrainian troops out of it.”

On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that after several days of battle, infantry forces from northern battle groups had “freed” Gabo, according to Tas.

Despite recent losses for Ukrainians in the region, Zelensky reiterated Kiev’s claim that the eight-month attack in Kursk had largely achieved its strategic goals.

“The entire Kursk operation has allowed us to reduce pressure on other frontline sectors, particularly in the Donetsk region,” he said at the video address.

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Meanwhile, over the weekend, Moscow claimed that its forces had crossed the border from Kursk to take Vezhibka, a village in the Smie region of northeastern Ukraine.

At the time, Ukrainian officials denied the report, saying the fight for the village was still ongoing.

On April 7, a Ukrainian Army spokesman issued a new denial that Basivka had fallen into the Russian army.

The Epoch Times were unable to independently examine frontline reports from both sides of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Moscow has yet to confirm Zesesky’s claim that the Ukrainian army is currently operating in Belgorod.

Writing on the Telegram messaging platform, Gladkov said the attack had injured at least two local residents, causing serious material damage.

However, he did not say where the reported attacks came from.

In 2023, many large-scale transboundary invasions took place in the Russian region of Kursk, Briansk and Belgorod from northeastern Ukraine.

Since then, Russia has used these three western regions to frequently strike in the northeastern Kharkiv and Smie regions of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that he will include some of the Smie in order to prevent future Ukrainian cross-border attacks, in order to help his troops establish a “buffer zone” along the border.

Reuters contributed to this report.