Russian Pundit Admits Zelensky 'Working Very Effectively' Amid Kursk Attack

Russian media pundit Vitaly Tretyakov recently admitted on Russian state-run television that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is "working very effectively" amid Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region.

The Russia-Ukraine war has raged on for more than two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022. Although Moscow aimed for a quick victory over its Eastern European neighbor, viewed as having a much smaller military, its spirited defense effort bolstered by Western aid, has blocked it from making substantial gains.

Earlier this month, Ukraine launched a surprise military operation in the Kursk region of Russia. It has been the largest incursion into Russian territory since World War II and has caused a shift in its war with Moscow, which has mostly been fought within Ukrainian territory.

"He is working very effectively. He is effectively supporting the actions of the anti-Russian Kyiv regime," Tretyakov said of Zelenksy, according to a translation posted to YouTube on Friday by the Russian Media Monitor, a watchdog group created by Julia Davis, a Ukrainian-born American journalist, to "combat Russian propaganda."

Tretyakov continued: "We should acknowledge that Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are doing very effective work on the territory of classic Russia, in the Kursk region. I haven't seen these kinds of actions of sabotage on the enemy's territory. Perhaps I'm just unaware of them...So far, this gambit is yielding results for Zelensky—political, informational and psychological results."

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government via online form and Ukraine's foreign ministry via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.

Ukrainian troops continue to advance in Kursk, with Ukraine's armed forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi saying on Friday that his troops pushed up to 1.2 miles through the region in the past day.

As of Friday, Ukraine claimed to control roughly 100 settlements and reached up to 22 miles into Kursk. Friday's small push came after advances seemed to have stalled.

Russia, meanwhile, has sent reinforcements into the Kursk region and on Monday, Moscow bombarded Ukraine with over 100 missiles and 100 drones, downing an F-16 fighter jet recently supplied to Kyiv.

The F-16 crash, which killed pilot Oleksii Mes, known by the call sign "Moonfish," is the first reported loss of one of the U.S.-made fighter jets after Ukraine received several F-16s late last month. At least six F-16s are believed to have been delivered to the war-torn country from its allies.

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway—all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—have committed to give Ukraine over 60 F-16s to help combat Russian forces.

Zelensky has repeatedly asked allies to lift restrictions on the weapons they supply to Ukraine so that Kyiv can fire them deep inside Russia to destroy key military infrastructure.

"All our partners should be more active—much more active—in countering Russian terror," Zelensky said late Wednesday. "We continue to insist that their determination now—lifting the restrictions on long-range strikes for Ukraine now—will help us to end the war as soon as possible in a fair way for Ukraine and the world as a whole."

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