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Odesa (Ukraine), June 21 (EFE).- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimates that almost 700,000 Russian soldiers are fighting against the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front lines, while some 52,000 Russians are deployed in the Russian border regions of Kursk and Belgorod.
"Today, 695,000 Russian soldiers (are) on the territory of Ukraine," Zelensky said in a meeting with Ukrainian media, according to the Ukrinform agency.
He added that "about 52,000 more Russian soldiers are concentrated in the directions of Kursk and Belgorod", that is, facing the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv (east) and especially Sumy (northeast).
The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured that he did not rule out also conquering the Ukrainian region of Sumy, where the Russian Army has already created a security strip 10-12 kilometers wide, according to the head of the Kremlin.
"We do not have such a goal: to conquer Sumi. But, in principle, I do not rule it out," he said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Zelensky responded in his traditional nightly speech that "the Russians had several plans and intentions there, absolutely crazy, as usual", but that the Ukrainian forces are "stopping them and eliminating those murderers" in Sumy.
In the meeting with local media, the president also said that he does not see any new advances by Russia on the ground, and this "is a big problem for the Russians", because "they want to 'sell' success in the Sumy region and in the Kharkiv region to prevent the US president, Donald Trump, from pressuring the Kremlin with sanctions".
"During this week, they advanced 200 meters towards Sumi and we made them retreat 200-400 meters," he assured.
The leader added that 23% of all attacks on the front take place in the Sumi direction, where "the Russians mainly use North Korean bombs and missiles in large quantities."
At the same time, the Russians do not cease in their attempt to penetrate the Dnipropetrovsk region. They are trying to enter in small sabotage groups. So far, the Russians have not been successful there, he affirmed, according to the Unian agency.
