CCD denies Putin's statement about Russian troops allegedly crossing Ukraine's border with Kursk region
Vladimir Putin's statement that Russian troops have allegedly crossed the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region and launched a large-scale offensive does not correspond to reality, the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has said.
"Vladimir Putin's statement that Russian troops crossed the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region and launched a large-scale offensive is not true. The Center verified this information with the Ukrainian Defense Forces and they reported that in fact there was an attempt by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group to enter the territory of Ukraine. This group has been destroyed," it said on the Telegram channel on Wednesday.
According to the CCD, there are no Russian troops on the territory of Kursk region that are capable of carrying out a large-scale offensive on the territory of Ukraine.
Spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Dmytro Lykhoviy said on Facebook that as of 15:00 on February 19, twelve military clashes have been recorded in the Kursk region since the beginning of the day, of which three were still ongoing (the others have already been repulsed).
"One of the repelled attacks, around 6:00 in the morning, was an attempt by a Russian unit to advance towards the Ukrainian state border on the Nikolaevo-Daryino-Zhuravka axis. The attempt was unsuccessful. There are no grounds for panic," he added.
"Against the background of general not the best moods in our social networks, the Russians are trying to spread additional bogus stories, in particular, about some breakthroughs of the Ukrainian defense in the Kursk region and a mass entry into the territory of Ukraine. This does not correspond to reality," Lykhoviy said.
"Do not get pulled into informational and psychological campaigns, support and strengthen the Ukrainian army – this is our best negotiating position," he said.
Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said the following in comments to Interfax-Ukraine: "No breakthrough attempts have been recorded along the directions where the border units are located."