MOSCOW: Russia said on Thursday its army had recaptured 10 settlements in its Kursk border region, where Ukraine last month launched a major cross-border incursion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also conceded Russia had launched its own counter-attack in the region, but insisted that the shock incursion was still going to plan.
“Units of the ´North´ group of troops liberated 10 settlements within two days,” Russia´s defence ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
Ukraine claimed at the end of August to have taken control of some 100 Russian settlements and almost 1,300 square kilometres of territory.
The surprise offensive, launched August 6, is the first time a foreign army has taken control of parts of Russia since World War II.
“The Russians have launched counter-offensive actions,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
He did not provide details on the extent of Russian operations, but said the incursion was “going in line with our Ukrainian plan”.Zelensky told a news conference with the Lithuanian President, Gitanas Naus da, in Kyiv: “The Russians have begun counteroffensive actions. It is going according to our Ukrainian plan.”
Russia’s troops are also making rapid gains in the eastern Donetsk region. They reportedly captured another village on the outskirts of Pokrovsk – a key Ukrainian logistics hub – and were only 8-kms from the city.
A Russian missile demolished a road bridge connecting Pokrovsk with the neighbouring town of Mrynohrad and the water supply was knocked out. Officials described the situation as very difficult in the area, where thousands of civilians remain despite the bombardment.
Donetsk’s regional governor, Vadym Filashkin, said conditions in and around Pokrovsk would not improve. “I again call on you to evacuate!” he posted on the Telegram messaging app.
In the same province, three Ukrainian employees working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were killed and two injured when an artillery round hit their lorry in the village of Virolyubivka.