in the eastern direction, somewhere we left the box, that is, ordinary people, there who are not involved in the war, or there abroad, for them, even the fact that we, while leaving, inflict a great defeat on the enemy, for them it looks like like, well, logically, we leave, which means we will lose, and this was the background, the discrediting of the military leadership began, and this background was intensified, including the russian ipso, which picked up on everything, and this operation, i will tell you, even talking to the soldiers , they are now on the rise, we see, even in in the information field, trust in the defense forces and in general in our army has risen, and the fact that our partners, they are also watching in the majority, maybe someone there, you are right, somehow evaluates in his own way, but this operation has already had a great effect, yet since it is important, of course, to bring it to a logical end, it is very important to have, let's say this, the effect - the end of the operation, which was conceived, to prevent the enemy from entering, because we are in a threatening direction from the right-left, we must hold

the flanks unambiguously, prevent there to break through the enemy, or for him to close the ring there, this everything must be done militarily, but from my point of view this operation already has a strategic effect and helps us in all directions, not only here in kurshchyna. ugh, well, putin is actually introducing a counter-terrorist operation regime in the regions bordering ukraine, which means that refueling in these regions will already be on... fully authorized representatives of the federal security service, the russian special service, actually, what is your impression of the actual russian visavi, but you mean such a terrible devil, as it is depicted, here is the russian service, well, the federal security service, it, it is really capable on a scale, not to underestimate, we should not underestimate the enemy. here

, looking at who we are talking about, now there is a story that the defense forces of ukraine took many prisoners, fsb officers, well, in fact , they are border guards, they are fsb officers, because they are part of the fsb, and well, we cannot underestimate the enemy, the fsb is a rather strong structure, we have to reckon with this and definitely not occupy the hat with slander, we need to always be ready for what let's say... the fsb can conduct its operations there and react quite seriously to certain operations of ours, our conducted operations, so here is our security service of ukraine, which is also working quite well here in kursk region and sumy region and also together with the forces , the armed forces helps, let's say, helps our armed forces advance, and i understand that they are preparing a humanitarian plan for the territory of the operation. on

behalf of the president, that's exactly what he wrote about, well, the president, i think, should also have given an order to hold a referendum, well, why no, many people here speak ukrainian, by the way, i wanted to ask you if it is true, if it is true, that the villages of kurshchyna speak ukrainian, look, i personally did not hear it, but i personally simply did not hear it, but many soldiers, from with whom i communicate, they really say what they say in ukrainian, especially those who are older, those who are still russians, let's put it this way, no... no, they didn't have time to break through, ugh, how does the communication of the ukrainian troops with the locals look, what 's left? and ukrainians are always decent, but definitely, but how, how they react, they are afraid, i i don't know, they live in propaganda all their lives, i think, let's say this, i didn't contact, let's say this, let's say this, well, maybe colleagues share, we understand, but mr. roman, another important moment when we

talk about the operation in kurshchyna, many people quite ambitiously mention the energy facilities located there, i am not talking about gas now, i am talking about the nuclear power plant, what happened literally yesterday at the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, when again the president announced the fact that we are from nikopol we record and see the fire at the zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, in your opinion, these things are connected , that is, a russian provocation. does it, in principle, fit into the context of our actions in kurshchyna? i am the fact that i am right here in the northern direction and i have heard this situation from the mass media and simply what can i say now, without analyzing, without having time to analyze there or talk with specialists, then i think that the russians could have provoked there by hinting at something that...

there we will have an accident or something, because we we understand that putin is a person who is now trying to threaten everyone since the beginning of the war, he threatened, he tried to do something. to hint, but the defense forces are doing their own thing, well , somehow, i don't know, we need to talk to specialists so that the sump in which the cooling water is located starts to burn, well, it's kind of hard to believe, but i think more specialists should be asked here, who exactly works with these nuclear plants, can this happen? well, mr. roman, in the global context, we do not understand what there is an election race in the united states now... europe has its own challenges, which are being overcome there with variable success, and here we see this large-scale operation, to what extent is it able to affect all the political processes and perhaps the military traditions of our

region at least? so how much can this operation affect political processes? abroad, you mean, just like that, and on the military traditions of our region, well, on the military traditions, i hope that it will have an impact, and we will traditionally uh, do, yes, yes, set a trend like this, let's say so , taking the initiative into our own hands, in relation to our partners, this is the task of our commander-in-chief, the president, our ministry of foreign affairs, to convey our position correctly, once again... to show that ukraine will do everything, well , within reason, of course, we are there now we are not talking about any crimes there, but will do everything to win and liberate our territory, if for this it is necessary to attack russia, we have already shown that we can do it, and i say this again, opens,

opens a new page of this war, and i i think it is a very correct page, but once again , here, let's not say such a hat of reproach, the main thing here is for the military to clearly... understand what reserves they have, what resources they have, convey this correctly to our partners, then understand that we move on, we establish ourselves there, we advance further, what objects are important for us to establish, how do we move to the defense, or, i don't know, start attacking in other directions, this is already a matter for the military, we, as, let's say, citizens, we have believe in them, support them and do everything so that they can do your job mr. roman, thank you. thank you for this inclusion, i understand under what conditions, roman kostenko, people's deputy of ukraine, secretary of the verkhovna rada committee on national security, defense and intelligence, colonel of the security service of ukraine joined the new week on espresso. thank you, and so, minuses, in principle

, roman kostenko cannot name them yet in the context of the operation in the intended direction, but we definitely understand that any... actions of an offensive nature, they carry with them risks of loss of personnel, this our people this is our golden resource, and therefore i am sure that there should be a competent approach with absolutely calculated all possibilities for the continuation of the situation in kursk oblast according to our scenario, and i would like to remind you that according to our scenario the president... gave instructions to the ministry of internal affairs to government officials of the security of ukraine to prepare a humanitarian plan for the territory of operations, that is, to maintain the stability of the humanitarian situation, which means that we are there for a certain time, this is also

a priority now, and i will remind you that today we we are asking about your, you know, sense of the possibility of a threat from belarus directly, and whether in... do you think that an attack by belarus on ukraine is likely? if so, please call 0800 211 381. if you think this is not possible, please call 0800-211-382. all your calls will be free, but it is very important for us to understand what you think and how you feel in the context of recent events. well, it's also... important how the world reacts to the actions of the defense forces, i'm actually already lost in definitions, lost in how to call this operation correctly, of course we still do not have enough official and public data, we are waiting for them as soon as possible,

i am sure that they will definitely tell us about it, this is exactly the difference between the number recognized by the russian federation, they say , that ours control 28, settlements of the kursk region, well, according to the data of our so far osinters, in particular the dibstate , there are already 44 settlements, you know, with a recorded presence. defense forces of ukraine. the flight is crazy, but the trend is clear. the number of settlements where not that ours are recorded, but the russian military is certainly not recorded, because often everything looks to them, either to escape from these settlements, or to be captured. i am glad to add to our conversation now our next guest, and it will be vitaly kulyk, director of the center for researching civil society problems. mr. vitaly. glad to see and hear, glory to ukraine, glory to you, i congratulate you, but

i would like to say a few words about what is happening in the kursk region, once again returning to the topic of internationally recognized borders, international law and us as a country, which adheres to this, the creation of this situation in kursk region, can it not be used in the rhetoric of our detractors, not only. it is possible for the russian federation to create an image of ukraine as a country that violates the borders of another sovereign state and does not observe various humanitarian norms there, for example and so on, and can it work, because we see that the russians are already launching similar informational and psychological operations, well, we see the reaction of our western partners, first of all, and the united states, european countries already emphasize that ukraine has the right to carry out a defense operation, including on the territory

of the enemy, and this is normal, accordingly, there is a war, and we will use any means to knock out the territory of the enemy and transferring military operations to the territory of the aggressor, this is the first, secondly, putin he himself fell into this trap, when the movement of borders is for him... so instrumental, not violated, according to the helsinki documents, namely instrumental, that is, he went for the annexation of crimea, went for the annexation of donbass and these occupied territories in zaporizhzhia to the kherson region, i will make it clear that the actions on the territory of donbas, in particular what is happening there, are no different according to the current russian legislation from the military. actions on the territory of kurshchyna, because donetsk

and luhansk regions, according to the russian constitution, are supposed to be the territory of the russian federation, therefore there is no legal regime other than the implementation of a special military operation in donetsk, luhansk and kursk regions, so they proclaimed a terrorist operation there , even patosheva appointed to coordinate on... but on the other hand, putin finds in the passport, he has nothing to complain about, this is a situation when russia itself has violated international law, it actually withdrew, terminated its participation in the recognition of international documents, and now there is no absolute right, but its appeal to international law is perceived as a fact, even by those who should supposedly ... shut up, or be in solidarity with the russian federation, such as china. such countries do not

express any special reservations, realizing that putin has driven himself into this easter thank you for this comment. in the meantime, a bipartisan delegation from the united states has arrived in kyiv, and congressmen are calling for the lifting of restrictions on strikes by american weapons on the territory of the russian federation. i would like to quote. now graham lintz if we do it right other aggressors around the world will be less likely to invade their neighbor if we stand with ukraine and win so administrations lift restrictions and allow weapons to be used to deter invasion while at the same time the panel notes that we cannot allow ukraine to fight with one hand behind its back, giving them weapons and then telling them they cannot use them in the way necessary to win. the whole world... is watching, it has been so from the very beginning, the world is watching not only ukraine, but also the united states, and china is watching, and

mr. kulyk has just noted this, iran is watching, all our autocratic enemies are watching, whether you in my opinion, the successes of the defense forces of ukraine in the kursk region will make our partners even bolder, and all taboos on use of any types of weapons wisely and with care. the relevant regulations will be removed, well i would like that to happen, but unfortunately in the united states there is, and accordingly, a violation of some... , that the policy of the united states in relation to the use of american weapons by ukraine has not changed, so it is expected that now, before the elections, washington will somehow radically change its decision regarding the use

long-range missiles or some kind of supernova weapons in depth'. deep into russian territory, well, in my opinion, it is unlikely, everything depends on the results of the elections, that is, by november, the situation is unlikely to change, unfortunately. mr. vitaly, as for the election race in the united states, we are also closely following it, because it is our direct interest, the latter are careful, i don't know how objective they are, but still the polls say that kamala harris is even a little you'. donald trump, again , i don't know how representative it is, but certain trends, it also captures what you see and how is this insanely intense race looking to you right now? i would be very careful about polling, because it has played

a role with trump many times, especially during the first, first trumpo election. won in the 16th year, just then sociology did not predict his victory right away, and this is because sociology did not record people who were ashamed to admit that they would vote for trump, that is , votes are not affected in sociological polls those who belong to the so-called deep people of the united states. to those rednecks who refuse to answer the questions of logical polls, and neither the mainstream nor the companies see them, or they are invisible in them, and then during the voting it is such an unfortunate fact, when the polls do not answer then the result, but the situation is like this now, and closed polls about the leaks, which

are leaked to the mass media from the headquarters, indicate that the difference between. well, conditionally enough within the sociological framework errors, and indeed the three main states, where the so-called swing states and the victory in which the victory is guaranteed in the race itself, they are now leaning towards the support of harris, but again, these are officially sociological indicators, we do not see the full depth of the measurement , we can still navigate. only on external markers, the difference between them is 3% or less, and this is a field for any surprises. well, i would like to hear from joseph biden, the man who made the important decision to withdraw from the presidential race at a certain point, i will remind you that he had

the opportunity to talk with cbs sunday morning journalists, and... if the result of this interview is, in particular, an understanding of what made the current american president withdraw from the election race. let's listen. polls showed that we are going fast. the fight would continue until the last. but what happened here is that several of my fellow democrats in the house and senate decided that i could hurt them in their election. and they bothered me. that if i had stayed in the race, that would have become their subject, and i decided that it was everyone's will distract well, actually, mr. kulyk, the fact that joseph biden made a decision, and we know that there are trumpists in america, there are definitely those who are direct supporters

of the current president joseph biden, i don't know how much it is, well, let's put it this way. about a segment of society with such a sectarian orientation, because this is what they sometimes say about people who perceive donald trump, but nevertheless we understand that there are only biden voters, or this decision of the current american president prompted them to cast their votes for kamala harris? i think that the voters of biden, they are quite disciplined and they are oriented towards the establishment. party, therefore the election of haris as a candidate is just the best option among other candidates, which was acceptable to them, preliminary survey, modeling. when the second choice is asked in the questionnaire, i.e. your candidate is not participating and who would you vote for then? there is such a technique in sociology, and this tool shows that harris

takes the votes of biden's supporters, this is a large enough percentage, in fact she is channeling to his advantage the people who were directly targeting biden himself, but at the time of removing biden for... the presidential candidate, he was losing the wavers, he was losing the leftist votes, he was losing the centrist votes, and the decision was like me, sufficiently balanced, because in this way harris can win back the votes of those who split, those who began to doubt, the votes of the left, and by the way, i will remind you that during the primaries in some democratic voters from ... refused to vote for biden because of his position in israel is at war against hamas, and the palestinian

issue is quite important and hot for the left wing of the democratic party. harris, she is an anti-crisis candidate, and this is the dissatisfaction with the policy of the white house regarding the palest. ukraine or any other issues of global climate change, etc., which were put forward by libya, they charis is covered as an anti-crisis candidate, she acts as a lesser evil, as such a centrist center, sorry for the logic, which actually returns the opportunity to defeat trump, and for democracy, it is very important, therefore the voter will vote for biden, and... and mr. vitaly, thank you for briefly but already touching on the topic of the importance of the middle east not only for the united states and its electoral processes, but also for the whole world. by

the way, is this world now waiting for an attack from iran on israel. i will remind you that the leaders of hamas were eliminated in tehran, and it actually looked like this proxy army of iran. for a while, she was disorganized, disoriented, of course, there is no such thing as an empty holy place, and already new names appear, by the way, who are involved in the preparation of the terrorist attack of this crazy attack on october 7, but less with whether iran is now in the mode of preparing for a revenge strike by israel, well, the information that within 12 hours... but we remember how iran carried it out, these were strikes by shaheds, strikes on structures, on the part of

hezbollah there were rocket launches against israel's military infrastructure and settlements, expect the transition to ground operations related to the operational corps and by increasing the number of subversives. groups from the side of iran, which fought from the territory of lebanon or syria, attacked israel, it is unlikely. talks about exchanging missile strikes and drones. in addition, in favor of such a hybrid response and lowering, let's say, some threshold of escalation, the new president of iran is playing, who careless you ... that a radical or rosy response by iran regarding the masks can provoke a general escalation of the situation will lead to a major war

in the greater middle east, and here is the new president, who belongs to the centrists, his even called a liberal, the president of iran, although it is quite conditional, since he is a representative of the therocratic regime, but... this is a deterrent from some extraordinary extraordinary swarms, but what is possible, notes missile attack, this possibility exists, moreover, iran increased its military presence in lebanon, provided hezbollah with the latest weapons, we saw how the houthis use missiles, missiles that can fly thousands of kilometers, we see that in fact soviet scuds are used by hezbollah, and this... they are trying their best saturate the region with weapons. and use all

possible proxies to launch strikes, so- called mosquito strikes on israel, of course israel will respond. finally, literally two or three minutes, mr. vitaly, well , so as not to stir up treason, but as it is, we have a scandal after a scandal in two ministries that are now strategically important for ukraine, the ministry of energy, the deputy minister for... but under suspicion in a bribe of 500 thousand dollars, and one of the suppliers of the ministry of defense was found with a trunk full of black cash, and for some reason such the news for us does not become a rarity, it is some kind of trend, it is the confidence that everything will be fine with ukraine, you can continue to steal, the lack of self-preservation instinct, or simply our political tradition, i think

it is... the lack of self-preservation instinct for some officials, since corruption schemes, according to the majority of investigators, live at most once, and then they go, they have to be reformatted, change the participants, start new ones, new fakes, there are tusks or pawns and build new schemes, that is, schemes live one block, then they become famous, they are covered up or exposed by investigators or covered up. future competent authorities, and those who are currently in power, believe that they will bypass this waxy place and manage to bury an extra million dollars there on some corruption charges, although the name of the same oleksandr, the deputy minister of energy, who was detained in khara, it sounded not the first year, starting with his appointment to the ministry. constantly

talked, there were stories about abuse in in the coal sector, about the granting of permits for coal mining activities in front-line mines, that is, all these stories were known, and only now a person was detained about the fact that the investigators wrote about the same schemes and called hale's last name, starting from the 22nd year, well, as far as i'm concerned, it's just... insufficient work of our competent bodies. thank you, mr. vitaly, for this thorough conversation on the hottest topics right now. vitaly kulyk, director of the center for researching civil society problems, joined the new week project on espresso, and i i remind you that this week and today we are asking you whether you think an attack by belarus on ukraine is likely, and the interim results of our survey are as follows:

28% poll. believe that yes, it is quite likely, and 72% believe that no, it cannot be, in this sense , our respondents are optimistic now, thank you to everyone who calls, and i will remind you that you can continue to do so, at the end of our we will sum up the programs of the new week, but now it's time for colleagues from the bbc, let's see.

tens of thousands of evacuees in russia, where it continues ukrainian offensive, kyiv says, the war is moving to the territory of the aggressor, what has ukraine gained so far and is it possible in the ukrainian army? to hold the so-called kurdish bridgehead, we are talking about this today on the bbc live from london, dzaferov is working in the studio. the ukrainian offensive in the south of russia has been going on for a week now, but how did the events unfold? it all started last week with reports that ukrainian forces had entered russian territory.