Ukraine did not tell its allies about Kursk because they reportedly found it “unrealistic”
“That is why no one was informed about our preparations,” Zelensky told heads of Ukraine’s foreign diplomatic missions in a speech on Monday, according to a translation by Ukrainian media outlet Pravda.
“Now the real success speaks for itself: our active defensive actions across the border and Putin’s inability to protect his territory from our defensive actions of this kind are very telling,” he continued, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine’s allies were not the only ones who were unaware of the attack. The invasion plan was kept so well secret that even Ukrainian soldiers were not informed until the last minute.
“We joked that it wasn’t April Fool’s Day. The commander just smiled, knowing that we had no idea what was coming,” a Ukrainian soldier identified only by his first name, Serhiy, said of the orders to invade Russia, The Economist reported Sunday.
Russian forces were caught off guard when Ukraine launched a shock offensive in the Kursk region on August 6. This surprise attack allowed Ukraine to make significant gains on the battlefield.
Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said last week that Ukraine had conquered nearly 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in just a few days. That’s about the same amount of land the Russians have conquered this year.
“When our Ukrainian defenders act like this, decisively and courageously, and when the operation is actually well prepared, Putin has no choice. And now the world sees that it is realistic, that it really works,” Zelensky said Monday, according to Pravda.
Representatives from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of normal business hours.
