Center for Countering Disinformation denies orders to hold Kursk region until Trump inauguration

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have received no orders to hold the Kursk region until Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president on January 20, 2025, according to Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).

The claim that Ukraine plans to "exchange" the Kursk region after Trump assumes office was reported by BBC News on December 2, citing unnamed soldiers.

However, Kovalenko dismissed this information as untrue.

He said that Ukraine's Defense Forces are currently focused on specific combat tasks dictated by the overall situation at the front, which also impacts conditions in several other front-line sectors.

"This includes the number of Russian forces in these areas," Kovalenko added. He underlined that such orders "simply cannot be issued" within Ukraine's military structure.