Ukraine Defense Chief Briefs US Officials on Ongoing Offensive in Russia’s Kursk

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has briefed a visiting delegation led by two U.S. lawmakers on Kyiv’s ongoing offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. “The American delegation was informed about the current situation at the front,” Umerov said in a statement released by his ministry after the Aug. 21 meeting. According to the defense minister, Kyiv’s offensive—now in its third week—aims to “cleanse the border from the threat of Russian strikes and reduce the possibility of enemy shelling and attacks on our cities.” On Aug. 6, thousands of Ukrainian troops, backed by tanks and artillery, poured into Russia’s western Kursk region, which shares a 150-mile-long border with northeastern Ukraine....