Ukraine claims its forces now control 74 communities in the Russian city of Kursk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine “must make full use of our achievements” as he gave an update on territorial gains in Russia’s Kursk region.
“We have proven once again that we Ukrainians are capable of achieving our goals in any situation – capable of defending our interests and our independence. And we must make full use of our achievements. And we will”, Zelenskyy said in his address.
“We are paying attention to every direction of our state’s defense, to all frontline areas: Donetsk region – Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Kramatorsk directions. Kharkiv region. The South. Special attention is paid to the Kursk region, and thus to the protection of all our border communities nearby,” he added.
A top Ukrainian military commander says Ukrainian forces now control 74 settlements in Kursk, which makes up 1,000 square kilometres.
Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the soldiers and commanders involved in the offensive, emphasising the importance of replenishing the exchange fund and offering assurances that Russian servicemen who have surrendered will be treated humanely.
The Governor of Russia’s Belgorad region has also declared a regionwide state of emergency as the area continues to be under attack from Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine’s incursion into Russia began eight days ago and is unprecedented in its use of Ukrainian military units on Russian soil.
Russian forces were caught off guard by Ukraine’s approach and are still scrambling to respond. More than 100,000 Russian civilians have fled the region.
A Russian Defence Ministry statement claims Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces, have stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky.
The Kremlin has criticised Ukraine’s western allies for failing to condemn Ukraine’s assault and has accused Ukrainian forces of killing civilians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the incursion is an attempt by Kyiv to stop Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and gain leverage in possible future peace talks.
He also said Ukraine may have hoped the attack would cause public unrest in Russia, but that it has failed to do so, and he claimed the number of volunteers to join the Russian military has increased because of the assault.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk.
He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months using anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, mortars, drones, 255 glide bombs and more than 100 missiles.
