Ukraine updates: Kyiv says no interest in occupying Kursk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine had shown that it can take the initiative in war as it presses on with its military operation in Russia's Kursk region.

"We have once again proved that in any situation, we Ukrainians are able to achieve our goals — we are able to protect our interests and our independence," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the nation.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas says Russia is moving troops from its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to the southern Kursk region, the scene of Ukraine's audacious cross-border incursion into Russia.

Kasciunas made his remarks in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, footage posted on the Ukrainian leader's Telegram account showed.

Kaliningrad, the most westerly point in Russia, is separated from Moscow's ally Belarus by both Lithuania and Poland.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says he has briefed the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about Ukraine's military operation in Russia's Kursk border region.

Kuleba said the pair had also focused on steps to "scale up Ukraine-EU cooperation in weapon manufacturing and delivery."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country's troops now control 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk border region.

Zelenskyy said he was constantly in touch with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, receiving reports on the frontline situation in Kursk. 

"Despite the difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state's "exchange fund" is growing. 

"Seventy-four communities are under Ukrainian control, where inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out. The development of humanitarian solutions for these territories continues."

"I am grateful to our warriors for their heroic service. Preparations for our next steps continue."

Last week, Ukraine launched a surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk border region. Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered Russian forces to drive out the Ukrainian troops. Russia earlier today had said it halted several Ukrainian units from advancing. 

Ukraine says it has no interest in "taking over" territory in Russia's Kursk border region and defended Kyiv's actions there as "absolutely legitimate."

The comments from Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy come a week after Ukraine launched a cross-border assault into Russia.

Ukraine says the operation has seen its forces take control of 1,000 square kilometers (just under 400 square miles) of land in Russia's Kursk region. Analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) by AFP news agency showed Ukraine controlling 800 square kilometers of territory. 

"We are achieving relevant goals in the Kursk region and will continue to do so as it is necessary for the security and defense of Ukraine," said Tykhy.

He said that Russia had launched more than 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months.

"The purpose of this operation is to preserve the lives of our children, to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian strikes."

The spokesman also said the incursion was helpful for Ukraine's forces on the frontline in the eastern part of the country. He said it prevented Russia from transferring additional units to the Donetsk region, complicating military logistics for Russia.

"The sooner Russia agrees to restore a just peace ... the sooner the raids by the Ukrainian defenses forces into Russia will stop," Tykhy told reporters.

"Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people's property. Ukraine is not interested in taking over the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people."

He also rejected Russian claims that Ukrainian troops had been guilty of war crimes in the Kursk region.

"It should be noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are a civilized European military force that fully complies with the laws and customs of war and international humanitarian law. The Ukrainian defense force's targets are military forces only. This is very important."

"Russia brought this war to Ukrainian territory, and it is absolutely fair that this war is now returning to Russian territory," he added.

Ukraine says it is imposing movement restrictions in a 20-kilometer zone (about 12.5 miles) of the Sumy region along the border with Kursk.

Kyiv's Army General Staff said measures were introduced because of the increasing intensity of combat in the area and the rising presence of Russian reconnaissance and sabotage units there.

"The military command imposed restrictions on the movement of all categories of citizens in the twenty-kilometer border zone of the Sumy region," it said in a statement on social media.

The statement added that the measure was temporary and that people living in the newly restricted area could still access their homes by providing proof of registration.

The eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy is a key supply station for Ukrainian forces in Russia. Regional military authorities said it had come under an overnight rocket attack from Russian forces.

Russia says it has thwarted new Ukrainian attacks in the Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting its week-old ground offensive.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing that it had "foiled attempts by enemy mobile groups in armored vehicles to break through deep into Russian territory" around several villages.

Russia has reportedly used missiles, drones and airstrikes in actions that one senior Russian commander said had halted Ukraine's advance. 

"The uncontrolled ride of the enemy has already been halted," said Major General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit. "The enemy is already aware that the blitzkrieg that it planned did not work out."

The ministry published footage of Sukhoi Su-34 bombers hitting what it said were Ukrainian troops in Kursk and of infantry storming Ukrainian positions.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry reported intercepting 14 Ukrainian drones, most of them over the Kursk region.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director, Alexander Bortnikov, says his agency is taking action to protect residents of the Kursk region amid the ongoing Ukrainian incursion.

"The necessary measures are being taken to protect our citizens," Bortnikov said during a meeting of the National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC).

"A counter-terrorism operation regime has been introduced on the territory of the Kursk region and in other regions bordering Ukraine. In order to suppress the terrorist plans of the enemy," Bortnikov said.

The Kursk region's acting governor, Andrey Smirnov says Ukrainian soldiers have crossed 12 kilometers (about 7.5 miles) into Russian territory and have gained a foothold in 28 settlements, widening the area they control to a length of 40 kilometers. He said more than 120 thousand people have been evacuated from battle areas.

According to Smirnov, 12 civilians are reported dead, with 121 injured, including 10 minors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday spoke for the first time about Ukrainian military forces operating inside the Kursk region.

In a post on the messaging platform Telegram, he praised the country's soldiers and commanders "for their steadfastness and decisive actions."

He said the war was now coming back to Russia after Moscow had taken fighting to other countries.

The president added that Ukraine's incursion was a matter of security for Ukraine, with Kyiv capturing areas from where Russia launched strikes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian army's incursion into the Kursk region, causing more than 100,000 civilians to flee, was an attempt by Ukraine to gain leverage in possible future peace talks.

He told a televised meeting with officials that "one of the obvious goals of the enemy is to sow discord" and "destroy the unity and cohesion of Russian society."

Meanwhile, Western experts say the Kursk incursion is a sign of a new strategy.

Ukraine may have taken a "first step" toward a strategy change in its defense against the Russian invasion. That's how Jen Spindel, assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire in the US, described the recent developments in western Russia's Kursk region to DW.

Russia says it has summoned a senior Moldovan diplomat to express "serious concern" over media reports that F-16 fighter jets supplied by the West to Ukraine could be based there.

Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow was alarmed by speculation that jets based at Moldovan airfields could be used to launch attacks on Russian territory.

Moldova's foreign ministry says the country had no plans to host aircraft destined for Ukraine.

"Moldova does not and will not host weapons and military equipment, including aircraft destined for Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.

rc/wmr (AP,AFP, dpa, Reuters)