White House on Kursk Oblast operation: If Putin is uncomfortable, he should get out of Ukraine

The White House emphasizes that Ukraine is defending itself against Russian aggression, and if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is "a little uncomfortable" with the events in Kursk Oblast, he should just get out of Ukraine, said the White House National Security Communications Advisor, John Kirby.

"And if [Vladimir Putin] doesn’t like it, if it’s making him a little uncomfortable, then there’s an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day," Kirby commented on the events in Kursk Oblast.

He emphasized that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "just a war of aggression and it has been since the very beginning." The US representative added that at the same time he would not comment on the actions of the Ukrainian military.

Earlier,  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged for the first time the presence of the Defense Forces on the territory of Kursk Oblat.

On August 12, at a meeting of the General Headquarters, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukrainian forces had taken control of about 1,000 square kilometers of territory in Kursk Oblast.

On August 6, 2024, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly breached the border in Kursk Oblast.

Overnight on August 9, a "counter-terrorist operation" regime was introduced in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk oblasts of the Russian Federation.

On August 12, a video appeared on the Facebook page of the 225th separate assault battalion, allegedly from the village of Daryino, in the Sudzha district of Kursk Oblast. In it, fighters remove the Russian flag from an administrative building.

On the same day, Russia officially recognized the loss of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast.