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Scores of civilians killed in Ukraine's 7-week incursion in Kursk: Russia

Kiev began the cross-border attack on August 6, more than two years after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces remain in the Kursk region.

AP

Kiev has said its incursion, the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two, is intended partly to prevent Russian forces in the area launching their own incursion across the border into Ukraine. / Photo: AP

At least 56 civilians have been killed and 266 wounded during Ukraine's seven-week-old incursion into Russia's western Kursk region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had earlier put the death toll at 31 in the period to September 5.

The new toll, released on Monday, covered the period up to September 20.

It said 131,000 civilians had left the most dangerous areas of the region but accused Ukrainian forces of holding some civilians against their will, including 70-120 people in the town of Sudzha.

Asked about the statement, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi said Ukraine abides by international humanitarian law and does not target civilians, and that it was unable to verify the assertions.

"Given Russia's long history of false numbers and propaganda, there is simply no way of verifying their claims. If Russia wants to show the real situation on the ground it can grant such access to the UN and ICRC," he said.

Several wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine's Kharkiv: Kiev

False claims

Both sides have denied targeting civilians and making false claims for propaganda purposes during the 31-month-old conflict.

The Kremlin has previously made clear it regards Ukraine's invitation to the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross to the Kursk region as "provocative", and that Moscow expects the UN and ICRC not to accept the invitation.

Kiev has said its incursion, the biggest foreign attack on Russia since World War Two, is intended partly to prevent Russian forces in the area from launching their own incursion across the border into Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that his forces controlled 100 settlements in the Kursk region over an area of more than 1,300 square kilometres.

Russian sources disputed this figure and Russia says it has since taken back some villages in a counter-attack.