MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. The pace of the Russian forces' offensive in Donbass and other areas of the special military operation zone has not slowed down amid Kiev’s attack on the Kursk Region, a Ukrainian National Guard officer said.

Earlier, speaking to the New York Times, an unnamed Ukrainian official said that the purpose of the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk Region was "to pull Russian troops from other parts of the front" where Ukrainian forces are being defeated. Military experts quoted by the newspaper even suggested that Russia would send forces not involved in the special military operation to suppress the Ukrainian attack.

"Now, as can be seen even from the official reports published by the [Ukrainian] General Staff, and from what is reported by units and fighters who perform tasks directly on the front line, the pace of the [Russian forces'] offensive, the activity of assaults is not decreasing," he said when asked whether it had become "easier" for Ukrainian units in the special military operation zone after Kiev launched its attack on the Kursk Region.

The Ukrainian armed forces attacked Russia’s Kursk Region on August 6. The attack killed 12 civilians and wounded 121 people, including 10 children. A total of 69 injured are in hospitals; the condition of 17 of them is assessed as serious. More than 120,000 people left or were evacuated from the border districts of Kursk Region.

According to the Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost up to 2,300 servicemen, at least 37 tanks and more than 32 armored personnel carriers since the beginning of hostilities in the Kursk area.