Thousands of Ukrainian troops on incursion to ‘destabilise’ Russia: Official

MORALE BOOST FOR UKRAINE

The operation has “greatly raised our morale, the morale of the Ukrainian army, state and society”, the Ukrainian official said, speaking late on Saturday after weeks of Russian advances in eastern Ukraine.

“This operation has shown that we can go on the offensive, move forward,” the official said.

“It seems that the Russians have problems with coordination, preparedness for action,” he said.

But he said there had been little effect so far on fighting in the east.

“The situation is basically unchanged. Their pressure in the east continues, they are not pulling back troops from the area,” he said, adding only that “the intensity of Russian attacks has gone down a little bit”.

The official said Ukrainian troops would respect international humanitarian law while on Russian territory and had no plans to annexe areas they currently hold.

“There is no idea of annexation … We are operating in strict accordance with international law,” he said, contrasting this with alleged violations by Russian troops in occupied territory.

Asked whether capturing the Kursk nuclear power plant near the border was an aim, he said: “We will see how the Kursk operation will develop”.

“We absolutely will not cause problems for nuclear security. This we can guarantee,” he said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has urged both sides “to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences”.