It’s the most significant advance into Russian territory since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the cross-border offensive is “purely a security issue” that aims to capture “areas from which the Russian army struck at our Sumy region”.
The area Ukraine now controls within Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US research group and think tank. Source: SBS News
Ukraine’s military chief Oleksandr Syrsky told Zelenskyy in a video posted on Monday that his troops were continuing “offensive operations” after seizing the territory.
Meanwhile, Russia remains in control of around 20 per cent of Ukraine.
While Ukraine says it controls a tiny amount of Russian territory, Moscow has occupied over 20 per cent of Ukraine. Source: SBS News
The Ukrainian attack comes after months of slow but steady advances by Russian forces in the east that has forced Ukraine’s troops onto the back foot as they try to withstand Russia’s heavy use of gliding bombs and assault troops.
Authorities in Kursk announced on Monday they were widening their evacuation area to include a district with some 14,000 residents and the nearby Belgorod region also said it was evacuating a new border district.
Russia claims 12 civilians have been killed so far as Ukraine advances into the Kursk region, with over 100,000 more evacuating. Source: SBS News / Lilian Cao
Visiting Kyiv on Monday, US Republican senator Lindsey Graham urged his country’s government to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs.
With additional reporting by Agence France Presse and the Reuters news agency.