While Kremlin continues to strike Ukrainian cities with missile and drone strikes, Ukraine’s top military commander has said that its forces were holding ground in Russia’s border Kursk region.
Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops control about 90 square kilometres of territory in the Hlushkov district of Russia’s Kursk region, despite Kremlin’s claims that it has recaptured the territory from Kyiv. “These are our preemptive actions in response to a possible enemy attack,” Syrsky said, without giving further details. Syrsky added that 10,000 Russian troops were attempting to drive Ukrainian troops back in Kursk that is located on the border that stretches for about 1,200 km. He pledged to increase attacks on Russian troops. "Given that we are not fighting against the population, we are fighting and destroying purely military targets,” he went on saying.
Ukrainian army launched cross-border incursion in Kursk region on 6 August 2024, seizing dozens of villages and taking a large number of Russian troops hostage. Russia stepped up attacks on Kursk region in May and June in an attempt to regain territories captured by Ukraine. Ukrainian troops have been retreating from the region in recent months amid onslaught by 70,000-strong Russian troops.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Kursk as a buffer zone preventing Russian troops’ deployment eastern Ukraine.
