It is due to the Kursk operation that the enemy was stopped on the Kharkiv axis and its forces' advancement was slowed down in Donetsk region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said on Friday.

"Everywhere, from the east to the north of our country, it was planned to create relevant buffer zones, and in case of success they [the Russian forces] wanted to capture the centers of these regions. That is what the Kursk operation gave us, in my opinion. Maybe, someone expected other results but, honestly speaking, it brought us the results we counted on. The enemy was stopped in Kharkiv region. Their advancement in Donetsk region was allowed down. It is very difficult there and we are far from positive there," he said at the 20th meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES).

The head of state also noted that the occupiers have removed their forces from the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia axes, as well as other groups to the north that were preparing to occupy the territory of Ukraine, but they were transferred to the Kursk direction.