KYIV, Ukraine
Ukraine says its forces are continuing their advance into Russian territory, moving forward in several directions.
Russia's western border region
of Kursk came under a surprise attack last week, leading Russian authorities to
declare a state of emergency in the area.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky said troops had advanced 1-2 km further into Kursk since Wednesday
morning, and had also captured 100 Russian soldiers. But Russia claims it has
stopped any further advances.
Now in its second week, this
is Ukraine's deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale
invasion in 2022.
The amount of Russian
territory seized is uncertain, with both countries making conflicting
statements.
A commander of the Chechen
Akhmat special forces unit, Maj-Gen Apti Alaudinov told viewers on Russian
state-controlled TV, Channel One, that Russian forces had almost “completely
blocked” the Ukrainian military from advancing.
But in a video link to
President Zelensky, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi stated Ukrainian troops were
now fully in control of the Kursk border town of Sudzha.
The BBC is unable to
independently verify this claim, but a Ukrainian television report filmed from
within the town showed Ukrainian soldiers removing a Russian flag from a
school.
Amid Kyiv's claims of
territorial gains, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy said they
were not interested in "taking over" Russian territory.
"The sooner Russia agrees
to restore a just peace... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defence forces
into Russia will stop," he told reporters.
In an earlier meeting with
government officials, Mr Zelensky said he would consider setting up “military
commandants' offices” in the region.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Deputy
Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk outlined plans for a “security zone” in Kursk,
to protect Ukraine’s borders.
Her Telegram post said Ukraine
would organise humanitarian aid for Russian civilians within the security zone,
and open evacuation corridors to both Russia and Ukraine.
Yan Furtsev, a local official
with Russia's liberal opposition party, Yabloko, said the situation in the
Kursk region was "tense".
"Citizens that are
leaving their homes are in a very difficult psychological situation," he
told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight, adding they were experiencing a lot of
"stress and sadness".
Mr Furtsev said about 180,000
civilians needed to be evacuated. So far 121,000 had left, he said, with
everyone needing basic essentials such as food and clothing.
Earlier Russia declared a
second state of emergency, this time in the neighbouring Belgorod region, where
homes have been damaged in drone attacks and shelling.
Moscow says that overnight it
shot down 117 drones overnight, which mainly targeted four regions - Kursk,
Voronezh, Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod.
Long-range drones were also
fired at Russian airfields in Voronezh and Kursk, as well as Savasleyka and
Borisoglebsk, Ukraine's security services told AFP.
The Ukrainian military quoted
a secret service source as calling it a "fun" night at the airports
overnight, in what was a specially planned operation.
In his first comments on the
operation since it began, US President Joe Biden said that the offensive was
“creating a real dilemma for Putin".
Meanwhile, various European
allies have voiced their support for Ukraine.
The prime ministers of Finland
and Estonia said they supported Ukraine's military operation in Kursk, while
Latvia’s foreign minister went a step further by saying Kyiv “has the right” to
use Nato weapons on Russian territory.
Russia's President
Vladimir Putin had previously described this as a "red line".
Last week, the German foreign
ministry said Ukraine was entitled to self-defence which was "not limited
to its own territory".
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