Ukraine controls 1,000 square kilometres in Russia's Kursk — army commander

Ukraine's top military commander has said his forces now control 1,000 square kilometres of Russia's neighbouring Kursk region, the first time a Ukrainian military official has publicly commented on the gains of the lightning incursion that has embarrassed the Kremlin.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the statement in a video posted on 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.

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 manoeuvre that caught the Kremlin's forces off guard counters Russia's unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defences at selected points along the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

Putin's remarks

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

Speaking on Monday at a meeting with top security and defence officials, Putin said the attack that began on August 6 appeared to reflect Kiev'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.

"It's obvious that the enemy will keep trying to destabilise the situation in the border zone to try to destabilise 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 kilometres into the Kursk region across a 40-kilometre 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.

'Fair' incursion

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.

Retired General Andrei Gurulev, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, criticised the military for failing to protect the border.

"Regrettably, the group of forces protecting the border didn't have its own intelligence assets," he said on his messaging app channel. "No one likes to see the truth in reports, everybody just wants to hear that all is good."

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday that reinforcements sent to the area backed by air forces and artillery had fended off seven attacks by Ukrainian units near Martynovka, Borki and Korenevo during the previous 24 hours.

The ministry said Russian forces also blocked an attempt by Ukrainian mobile groups to forge deep into Russian territory near Kauchuk.

Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group open-source intelligence agency, which monitors the war, said the toughest phase of Ukraine's incursion is likely to begin now as Russian reserves enter the fray.