Ukraine claims control of hundreds of square miles of Russian territory

KYIV, Ukraine

Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russia’s neighboring Kursk region, the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains of the lightning incursion that has embarrassed the Kremlin.

People evacuated from Russia's Kursk region sit next to tents at a temporary residence center.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted Monday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel. In the video, he briefed the president on the front-line situation.

“The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues actually along the entire front line. The situation is under our control,” Syrskyi said.

Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surpriseUkrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the incursion, which has caused more than 100,000 civilians to flee, is an attempt by Kyiv to stop Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and gain leverage in possible future peace talks.

Zelenskyy confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian military is inside the Kursk region. On Telegram, he praised his country’s soldiers and commanders “for their steadfastness and decisive actions.” He did not elaborate.

The Ukrainian operation is under tight secrecy, and its goals remain unclear. The stunning maneuver that caught the Kremlin’s forces off guard counters Russia’s unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defenses at selected points along the front line in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking Monday at a meeting with top security and defense officials, Putin said the attack that began Aug. 6 appeared to reflect Kyiv’s attempt to achieve a better negotiating position in possible future talks to end the war. He insisted Moscow’s army would prevail.

Putin 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. He said Russian forces will carry on with their offensive in eastern Ukraine regardless.

Our Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports Ukraine’s top military commander says his forces now control nearly 400 square miles of a Russian region after a lightning incursion that has embarrassed Moscow.

“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. Russia’s main task is to “drive the enemy out of our territories and, together with the border service, to ensure reliable cover of the state border.”

Acting Kursk Governor, Alexei Smirnov reported to Putin that Ukrainian forces had pushed 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into the Kursk region across a 40-kilometer (25-mile) front and currently control 28 Russian settlements.

Smirnov said 12 civilians have been killed and 121 others, including 10 children, have been wounded. About 121,000 people have been evacuated or left the areas affected by fighting on their own, he said.

Tracking down all the Ukrainian units that are roaming the region and creating diversions is difficult, Smirnov said, noting that some are using fake Russian IDs.

The governor of the Belgorod region adjacent to Kursk also announced the evacuation of people from a district near the Ukrainian border.

Zelenskyy said the territory now controlled by Ukrainian forces was used to strike Ukraine’s Sumy region many times, adding that it is “absolutely fair to destroy Russian terrorists where they are.”

“Russia brought war to others. Now it is coming home,” he said in a video posted on Telegram.