Zelenskyy confirms Ukrainian forces operating in Russia’s Belgorod region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed for the first time that Ukrainian troops are operating inside Russia’s Belgorod region.

In a late-night video address on Monday, President Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces were engaged in what he described as “active operations” in border areas across the Russian frontier, including the Belgorod and Kursk regions.

“We continue active operations in the border areas, on enemy territory, and this is absolutely fair,” Zelenskyy said. “The war must return to where it came from.”

The Ukrainian leader said the operations were intended to defend Ukraine’s northeastern regions, particularly Sumy and Kharkiv, from ongoing Russian attacks. He credited the operations in Kursk with easing military pressure on other fronts, notably in the Donetsk region.

Zelenskyy also praised the 225th Fighter Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for its role in operations within the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, as well as Russia’s Kursk region.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, this is the first official confirmation from Kyiv of Ukrainian ground forces operating in Belgorod. Ukrainian officials have previously indicated that such cross-border actions aimed to create a buffer zone to protect Ukrainian territory.

The Russian Defence Ministry reported on March 18 that Ukrainian forces had launched multiple attacks in the western part of Belgorod.

Moscow claimed the attacks were repelled and described them as a “provocation by the Kyiv regime” timed ahead of a phone conversation that day between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.