Ukraine's Zelensky says the Russian invasion is part of a “victory plan” that he wants to show Biden.

CNN
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the invasion of Russia's Kursk region was the first part of Kyiv's victory plan, which he plans to present to US President Joe Biden in September.

At a press conference in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, Zelensky said he plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September and meet with Biden there, adding that the success of the plan depends largely on the United States.

“The success of this plan depends on him. Will they give us what we have in this plan or not? Will we be free to use what we have in this plan or not,” he asked.

He said the plan would be presented to both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. “Since we don't know who the president of the United States will be, we want to implement this plan,” he said.

While Zelensky did not go into details, he said the four-phase plan began with the cross-border invasion of Kursk, which he said had “already taken place.”

“The second direction is the strategic position of Ukraine in the world security infrastructure,” Zelensky continued. “The third direction is the powerful package of forcing Russia through diplomatic means to end the war, and the fourth direction is economic in nature.”

“The Kursk region is part of our plan. The plan of our victory. For some this may sound ambitious, but for us it is a very important plan,” he said.

He did not reveal any further information because he said he “could not say everything”.

Ukraine's surprise military invasion this month has challenged Russia to secure its own territory. Kyiv appears to have multiple goals in the attack: from boosting morale after a stormy few months to depleting Russian resources.

It also raises questions about how to end the aggression as Russia continues to advance in eastern Ukraine, approaching the town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where authorities are rushing to evacuate tens of thousands of residents.

Ukrainian Army Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told CNN that one of the goals of the Kursk offensive was to withdraw Russian forces from other Ukrainian cities, especially Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo.

“Of course, the enemy understands this, so he continues to concentrate his main efforts on the Pokrovsk direction, where his most powerful units are concentrated,” Syrskyi said on Tuesday in response to a question from CNN.

At a forum of heads of state institutions in Kyiv, Syrskyi claimed that about 30,000 Russian soldiers had already been deployed to Kursk, adding that this “number is increasing”.

CNN cannot independently confirm this number.

At the same forum, Zelensky praised Ukraine's development of a new long-range missile drone called Palianytsia, having previously suggested that this is Ukraine's “own way of taking real action” in light of the restrictions imposed by Western allies on Russia's use of long-range weapons.

“Palianytsia” is a Ukrainian word for a type of bread that is difficult for Russians to pronounce. Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainians have used the word to refer to saboteurs or members of the Russian military.

As fighting continues on several fronts, Russia launched its largest airstrike on Ukraine on Monday, hitting energy infrastructure across the country. More attacks occurred on Tuesday morning, killing five people and bringing the death toll this week to 12.

CNN's Daria Tarasova-Markina and Ivana Kottasova contributed to this report.