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Ukraine claimed new progress in its offensive against Russia and said on Thursday it had captured more than 1,100 square kilometers of territory in the largest assault by foreign troops on Russian territory since World War II.
Ukraine says it now controls dozens of settlements and the town of Sudja, eight kilometres (five miles) from the border.
“We have taken control of 1,150 square kilometres of territory and 82 settlements,” said top military commander Oleksandr Serski.
Meanwhile, Russia said it had recaptured a village in the Kursk border region from Ukrainian troops and announced it would send “additional troops” to the neighboring Belgorod region.
Ukrainian troops launched the offensive on August 6, breaking months of setbacks after more than two years of fighting a Russian invasion.
The senior general also told President Volodymyr Zelensky that the army had set up an administrative office “to maintain law and order and meet the priority needs of the population in the controlled areas.”
Zelensky announced that “the town of Sudja has been completely liberated from the Russian army.”
120,000 Russians displaced
Dozens of mourners gathered at an Orthodox church in the center of Sumy, a regional center across the border from Kursk, on Thursday to pay tribute to the six Ukrainian soldiers killed in the offensive.
As the priest presided over the funeral mass and incense was lit, the deceased’s family members burst into tears and were greeted by a group of relatives and friends dressed in black and holding wreaths.
“It is difficult to say goodbye to them because we want them to live forever among us as the glorious descendants of our motherland,” the pastor told mourners.
“Our mission is to pray for our brave warriors and their families.”
Amid the choir’s hymns, the pallbearers lifted the coffins one by one and prepared for burial. When the funeral was over, air raid sirens rang across Sumy.
In Kursk, AFP reporters saw around 500 evacuees from the border region queuing to receive food and clothing distributed by the Russian Red Cross.
Russia said more than 120,000 people had left or been evacuated.
“I’m very scared, very scared. Shells are coming from all directions, helicopters, planes, fighter jets are flying over the houses,” Nina Golinyaeva, an evacuee from Souja, told AFP.
“I saw soldiers on the street at night,” she added. “They said, ‘You have to evacuate urgently or they will kill you.’”
– ‘Total destruction’ –
The Ukrainian offensive caught Russian forces off guard.
The fighting has killed at least 12 civilians and injured 121, according to Russian authorities, who have not released a toll since Monday.
Moscow scrambled to send in reinforcements and announced on Thursday it had recaptured a village in the Kursk region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the army had “completely eliminated the enemy and restored control over the Krupets settlement.”
The Russian military also announced measures to prevent attacks on neighboring regions, especially Belgorod.
Russia is ready to take “concrete actions” to defend Belgorod from an attack by Ukraine, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said at a meeting with officials including Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
This includes “sending additional troops.”
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been smaller incursions in Kursk and Belgorod, but never on such a large scale.
– Attack Strength –
Ukrainian officials have argued that the offensive was an act of “self-defense,” and experts believe it may have been intended to relieve pressure on the eastern front.
Ukrainian troops are still fighting hard in the eastern Donbas region, a key Russian target.
“Most of the Russian attacks are taking place in the Donbas region,” Zelensky said, adding: “We are paying maximum attention to our defense.”
Authorities in three Ukrainian regions reported at least five civilian deaths in the Russian strikes, including Donetsk in the east, Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson in the south.
Russia said its troops had captured Ivanivka in Donetsk, a frontline village just 15 kilometres from Pokrovsk, a Kiev-controlled transport hub in eastern Ukraine.
Pokrovsk, located at a junction of roads supplying Ukrainian troops and frontline towns in the east, has long been a Russian target.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a briefing that its troops had “liberated the village of Ivanovka” (Ivanovka is the Russian name for the village).
For months, Russian troops had been advancing slowly toward Pokrovsk, capturing a string of villages leading to the outskirts of the city.
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