CNN
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Ukraine says its forces are making further advances in Russia’s Kursk region, a week after its cross-border incursion has seen Kyiv’s forces say they captured enemy soldiers and destroyed a Russian fighter jet.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces had advanced 1 to 2 kilometers since early Wednesday in Russia’s southern Kursk region. Kyiv already has control over about 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory since the start of its surprise offensive.
“We are advancing in the Kursk region, 1 to 2 kilometers in different areas since the beginning of the day,” Zelensky said in a video call with Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Wednesday.
Zelensky said 100 Russian servicemen had been captured, adding that this would “accelerate the return of our comrades and girls”.
Earlier, a video released by AFP at a Ukrainian border crossing between the Sumy region and Russia’s Kursk region showed a Ukrainian truck carrying blind men in Russian military uniforms driving away from the Russian border.
CNN contacted the Ukrainian military for comment on the video.
The intrusion — causing great embarrassment to the Kremlin — prompted an angry Russia to take future peace talks off the table.
Russian Foreign Ministry Special Envoy Rodion Miroshnik told a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow would “at least” put talks with Ukraine on a “long pause”. Peace talks between the warring nations have failed since the war began in February 2022.
Meanwhile, the Russian border region of Belgorod declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after fresh attacks by Ukrainian forces.
“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be very difficult and tense,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Klatkov said in a video message posted on his Telegram account on Wednesday.
The announcement came after Belgorod began evacuations on Monday as a result of the Ukrainian developments.
It was a significant shift in tactics for Ukraine and marked the first time foreign troops entered Russian territory since World War II. Kyiv did not officially acknowledge the presence of its troops inside Russia until several days later.
Regional authorities are now appealing to the Russian government to declare a federal emergency, Kladkov said.
He added that two locations in Belgorod, the town of Shebekino and the village of Ustinga, were hit by Ukrainian drones. There were no casualties but two residences were damaged.
Russia’s National Guard said on Wednesday that security around the Kursk nuclear power plant in southwestern Russia had been beefed up following the sudden intrusion. The National Guard, known as the ‘Rosguardia’, said it had taken “extra measures” to protect the power station.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was “monitoring the situation regarding alleged military activities in the vicinity of the Kursk nuclear power plant,” with its director-general, Rafael Mariano Croci, urging both sides to “exercise maximum restraint.” In order to avoid “a nuclear accident”.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it had destroyed dozens of drones and four tactical missiles over the Kursk region, part of a barrage that included 117 “aircraft-type” drones by the country’s air defenses overnight.
Voronezh, a southwestern region bordering both Kursk and Belgorod, has destroyed more than 35 drones launched by Ukraine, Governor Alexander Kusev said on Wednesday.
There were no casualties, but property, vehicles and municipal infrastructure were damaged due to the collapse, and there was a risk of drone strikes, he said.
A statement issued by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Wednesday said that Ukraine’s air force “destroyed a Russian SU-34 fighter-bomber” in the Kursk region on Tuesday night.
Tens of thousands of Russians have fled their homes since the incursion began, while Moscow has struggled to contain the onslaught, imposing anti-terror measures in Kursk, Belgorod and another border region, Bryansk.
On Monday, Kyiv said it had gained control of the same amount of land Russia has seized so far this year — though it is still dwarfed by Russia’s total Ukrainian territory since the conflict began in 2014.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said its forces were in control of 74 settlements in Kursk and were preparing for “further operations” in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile vowed to “drive the enemy out” of Russia – although his troops have yet to halt the Ukrainian advance.
US President Joe Biden addressed the intrusion on Tuesday, saying he was receiving regular updates from staff and that it was “creating a real embarrassment for Putin”.
