DISINFO: Ukraine attacks Kursk over gas issues
SUMMARY
The gas transit agreement through Ukraine expires this year, and there is a possibility that the current offensive in the Kursk region is part of a hidden gas struggle and an attempt to strengthen the position before new negotiations.
RESPONSE
Theory not backed by any evidence, aiming to exploit the situation around Ukraine’s advance into Russia’s Kursk region. Such disinformation narratives aim to portray Russia as a victim and deflect any responsibility for Moscow’s actions.
The Ukrainian operation in the Russian Kursk region is not related to gas issues. Ukraine, in accordance with international law and Article 51 of the UN Charter, uses its right to self-defense by all means available to it.
One of the goals that Ukraine pursues by starting the operation in the Kursk region was the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian front. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with The New Yorker on September 22, 2024, noted that in total, Russia withdrew about 40 thousand troops from the front in Ukraine and transferred them to the Kursk direction. As a result of the Kursk operation, Zelenskyy said, tensions have decreased in areas of the front in southern Ukraine, as well as in some eastern parts of the front.
Also, according to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Kursk operation reduced the threat of an enemy offensive from this territory to the neighboring Sumy region of Ukraine. The offensive of the Ukrainian defense forces took away Russia's advantage by transferring hostilities to enemy territory, Syrskyi believes (see video from 01:26).
Also, the operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region of Russia is aimed at creating a security zone for Ukrainian border settlements. Russia is firing at Ukrainian frontline cities from the Kursk region. Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi believes that the strategy of the unexpected offensive on the Kursk region for the Russians was chosen correctly, the Ukrainian operation brings the desired result to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (see video 02:16:17-02:17:19).
See similar claims of disinformation: Kursk incursion conceived by the same people who blew up Nord Stream and The Kursk incursion was pushed for by Washington so democrats can win elections.