Kyiv still advancing on Putin’s forces in Kursk as it claims 1,000 sq km of land

Below you can see a map detailing Ukraine’s historic cross-border assault into the Russian region of Kursk, which began a week ago today.

Ukraine’s military chief claims his forces have taken nearly 390 square miles of territory in just seven days, nearly three times the amount of occupied land retaken by Kyiv’s troops during the three-month counteroffensive last summer.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based think tank that tracks developments on the frontline, suggested a more conservative estimate of around 305 square miles.

Nonetheless, the capture of such a large swathe of territory is a significant advancement for Ukrainian troops, a feat evermore significant given it is inside Russia, as opposed to being a retake of land in Ukraine that Moscow’s forces had previously occupied.

Footage below shows the extent of eight hours of Russian strikes in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson yesterday.

The video, released by local governor Oleksandr Prokudin, details several destroyed houses.

Earlier, we reported that at least one woman was killed and ten more injured, including two young girls, throughout yesterday’s strike in the region.

Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the Pokrovsk front in eastern Ukraine over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military has announced, reporting the largest number of battles in the area in a single day in a week.

The increase in fighting comes after Ukraine mounted a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk regionin what some military analysts see as an attempt to divert Russian forces from their main offensives in the east.

Russian forces have been trying to advance towards the Kyiv-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk for months, inching forward incrementally and taking advantage of greater troop numbers.

In a daily readout, the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said there had been 52 battles on the Pokrovsk front, a visible increase from figures of between 28 and 42 per day that have been reported over the past week.

Ukraine last reported more than that in the first days of August, before Kyiv’s forces launched their cross-border attack into Kursk region.

The Russian attacks in the last 24 hours were focused around the villages of Hrodivka and Zhelanne, located about 20 km from Pokrovsk, the General Staff said.

The battles on the Pokrovsk front accounted for more than a third of all the battles reported along a 1,000-kilometer front, according to the Ukrainian readout.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory. Until the surprise attack on Russia, Ukraine had been losing territory to Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces have announced the restriction of civilian movement in border regions of Sumy over fears that Russian sabotage groups could jeopardise Kyiv’s cross-border attack into neighbouring Kursk.

Ukraine’s general staff made the announcement this morning, writing on Facebook: “The military command has introduced restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the 12 mile (20-kilometre) border zone of Sumy region.”

They added that such measures would only be temporary but were vital while Ukraine’s historic, week-long attack into the Russian region of Kursk is ongoing.

Russian drones attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine‘s northern region of Chernihiv overnight, national grid operator Ukrenergo has announced.

Ukrenergo said the power was restored to the industrial and household consumers in some areas of Chernihiv region impacted by power cuts after the attack, according to the statement Ukrenergo shared via Telegram messaging app.

At least one woman has been killed and ten other civilians injured in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson after eight hours of “massive strikes” by Russia.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor of the region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, said the woman died in intensive care from “severe” injuries following overnight missile and drone attacks by Moscow.

“​​Yesterday evening, Russian troops began massive strikes in Kherson and its suburbs. Enemy shelling continued at night,” he wrote on the Telegram messenger app.

“In almost eight hours of enemy attacks, ten people were injured. Unfortunately, one woman died in intensive care.”

He added that among the wounded were two girls aged five and seven, while half of the total injured are still receiving treatment.

Earlier, we reported that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video message that the war is “coming home” to Russia, in a reference to the Kursk attack launched a week ago today.

Below, we have his full statement, in which he linked the sinking of the Kursk submarine that killed more than 100 people in 2000 and the surprise attack in Kursk this week.

“We see how Russia really moves in the times of Putin: 24 years ago, there was the Kursk disaster – the symbolic beginning of his rule; and now we can see what the end for him is. And it is also Kursk. The disaster of his war,” Mr Zelensky wrote.

“This always happens to those who despise people and any rules. Russia brought war to others, and now it is coming home. Ukraine has always wished only for peace, and we will definitely ensure peace.

“I thank everyone who helps! Glory to all those who fight, who work for Ukraine!