Ukraine, Russia both claim advances in Kursk region

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Thursday claimed fresh advances in its cross-border offensive into Russia, where it said it had seized over a thousand square kilometres, the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.

Russia said it had recaptured a first village from Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region and announced it was sending "additional forces" to the neighbouring Belgorod region.

Ukraine said it now controlled dozens of settlements and Sudzha, a town eight kilometres from the border.

"We have taken control of 1,150 square kilometres of territory and 82 settlements," said top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky.

Syrsky's troops launched the offensive on August 6, breaking months of setbacks for the Ukrainian army that has been battling a Russian invasion for over two years.

The top general also told President Volodymyr Zelensky his army had set up an administrative office "to maintain law and order and meet the priority needs of the population in the controlled territories".

Zelensky announced "the completion of the liberation of the town of Sudzha from the Russian military".

120,000 Russians displaced 

At an Orthodox church in the centre of Sumy, the regional hub across the border from Kursk, dozens of mourners gathered Thursday to pay their final respects to six Ukrainian servicemen killed since Kyiv launched its offensive. 

Tearful family members of the victims received a steady stream of friends and relatives wearing black and clutching wreaths as the priest intoned a funeral mass and incense hung in the air. 

"It is hard to say goodbye to them, because we want them to live forever, to live among us as honoured sons of their homeland," the priest told mourners.

"Our task is to pray for our heroic fighters and their families." 

Pallbearers lifted the coffins one by one for burial as a choir sang hymns in harmony. Air raid sirens echoed over Sumy as the service ended.

In Kursk, AFP reporters saw around 500 evacuees from border areas queueing for food and clothes being distributed by the Russian Red Cross.

Russia says over 120,000 people have left or been evacuated.

 'Completed destruction' 

The assault took Russian troops by surprise and triggered the evacuation of tens of thousands.

The fighting killed at least 12 civilians and wounded 121 others according to Russian authorities, who have not released a toll since Monday.

Moscow scrambled reinforcement and announced the recapture of a first village in the Kursk region on Thursday.

The ministry said the army had "completed destruction of the enemy and restored control of the settlement of Krupets."

The Russian army also announced measures to prevent attacks on neighbouring regions, particularly Belgorod. 

The Russian army has prepared "concrete actions" to defend the Belgorod region from Ukrainian attacks, minister Andrei Belousov said at a meeting with officials including Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

They include "the allocation of additional forces."

Both Kursk and Belgorod regions have seen small incursions since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine had however never launched an assault of this scale. 

Intensity of attacks 

Kyiv officials have argued the offensive was a needed act of "self-defence" and experts suggest it could be aimed at alleviating pressure from the eastern front.

Ukrainian troops are however still struggling in the eastern Donbas region, a key prize for Moscow. 

"Most Russian attacks are taking place" in the eastern Donbas," Zelensky said, adding: "We are paying maximum defensive attention."

Russia said Thursday its forces had captured Ivanivka, a frontline village just 15 kilometres from the Kyiv-held transport hub of Pokrovsk in east Ukraine.

Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front and has long been a target for the Russian army.

In a daily briefing, the Russian defence ministry said its army units had "liberated the village of Ivanovka" in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, using the Russian name for the village.

Russian forces have been inching towards Pokrovsk for months, taking a string of tiny villages in recent months as they seek to reach the outskirts of the city.