CIA denies Trump and Putin’s statements about Ukrainian Armed Forces being "encircled" in Kursk region - Reuters
Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region have lost some ground in recent days, but are not surrounded by Russian troops, contrary to recent statements by Donald Trump and dictator Putin.
Reuters writes about this, citing EU and US officials familiar with their governments' intelligence assessments, Censor.NET reports.
Thus, the US intelligence services, in particular the CIA, shared this assessment with the White House last week, but Trump continues to claim that Ukrainian troops are surrounded in the Kursk region.
"The U.S. and European intelligence assessments show that Ukrainian troops have faced intense pressure from Russian forces but they are not completely surrounded," said the publication's interlocutors.
Experts describe dictator Putin's statement of 13 March that Ukrainian troops in Kursk region are cut off and will eventually have to "surrender or die" as disinformation. This is to show that Russia is offering concessions and saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, giving Putin leverage in ceasefire negotiations.
Trump's statements on the encirclement of the AFU in the Kursk Oblast
On 14 March 2025, Donald Trump said that "thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by Russians" and are "in a bad situation".
Later, President Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were not surrounded in the Kursk region.
