Zelenskyy: Ukraine Is Achieving Its "Strategic Goals" In Kursk

Wires carrying comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating that, "Ukraine is achieving its strategic goal in operation in Kursk region," after the Ukrainian military had a "good advance" on Wednesday."

• Reuters notes that Zelenskyy also appealed to allies, "to allow long-range strikes on targets inside Russia."
• AP notes that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani today insisted that the weapons his country sends “cannot be used to attack Russia on its territory.”
• So far, other NATO backers have been tight-lipped about changing the parameters placed on the use of Western-supplied weapons. Throughout the war, the US has gradually eased restrictions on certain weapons as the battlefield situation has evolved. Earlier in the war, the provision of long-range missiles, advanced battle tanks, and fighter planes were all denied to Kyiv on grounds they could escalate the conflict.
• In June, the US eased restrictions on long-range missiles to allow Kyiv to hit some targets within Russia. At the time White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said new guidance, "extends to anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory," adding that it’s “not about geography. It’s about common sense.”
• Sky News notes: "Senior Kyiv officials said today Ukraine was creating a "buffer zone" in the Kursk region and plans to organise humanitarian assistance and evacuation corridors for civilians looking to go either to Russia or to Ukraine."