NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 12. /TASS/. Ukraine's armed provocation on the Russian border is intended to slow down the pace of the Russian troops' advance, but Kiev is failing at this, as the territories of Donbass and Novorossiya are being liberated 50% faster than before, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on the situation on the border.

"Such actions (as in the Kursk Region - TASS) certainly pursue a central military goal - namely, to stop the advance of our troops for complete liberation," Putin noted.

"So what?" the head of state asked rhetorically. "Not only has the pace of offensive operations by Russian armed forces, volunteers, and veterans <…> not slowed down, but on the contrary, it has accelerated by one and a half times. Russian troops are confidently advancing forward along the entire battle contact line," the President added.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the battlegroups West, Center, South and East were occupying increasingly advantageous positions. Russian forces have been advancing for several weeks, pushing back the enemy. According to data from the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ukrainian group between Dzerzhinsk (Ukrainian name - Toretsk) and the village of Novgorodskoye (Ukrainian name - New York) has come into operational encirclement.