The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Monday that his forces currently control 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russia’s Kursk region.
Kyiv began a surprise cross-border push from its northeastern Sumy region into Kursk last Tuesday. Raids from Ukraine into Russia have been previously claimed by Kyiv-aligned Russian groups, but this is the first time regular troops have mounted such an operation.
On Monday, a video posted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s Telegram page showed Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who took over as Ukraine’s army chief in February, speaking about Kyiv’s forces in Kursk.
“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
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Earlier on Monday, the Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on its Telegram channel that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with top Russian security officials where he was notified by the acting Kursk governor that “the situation in the region is difficult” and noted that Ukraine currently controls 28 settlements in the region amidst its ongoing incursion of the region. Video footage from RIA Novosti showed Putin reacting angrily and interrupting the acting governor during the meeting.
BBC News reported on Monday that Putin told a meeting of other Russian officials that “the defense ministry’s main task is to push, to kick the enemy out of our territory.”
Putin said that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk is an attempt by Kyiv to respond to Moscow’s offensive efforts in the Donbas region. The Russian leader also said that Ukraine is seeking to cause unrest among the public.
“It’s obvious that the enemy will keep trying to destabilize the situation in the border zone to try to destabilize the domestic political situation in our country,” Putin said, adding that Russia’s task is to “to squeeze out, drive the enemy out of our territories and, together with the border service, to ensure reliable cover of the state border.”
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For the first time on Monday, Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian forces are operating inside Russia’s Kursk region. On Telegram, he commended the country’s soldiers and commanders for their “steadfastness and decisive actions.”
Zelensky also noted that Ukraine would be willing to provide humanitarian assistance in the Kursk region. According to Russia’s emergency authorities, over 76,000 people have been told to evacuate the region.
