Ukraine, Russia both claim advances in Kursk region

Ukraine has claimed fresh advances in its offensive into Russia, saying on Thursday it seized over 1,100 square kilometers in the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II.

Ukraine said it now controlled dozens of settlements and Sudzha, a town eight kilometers (five miles) from the border.

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

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

Ukrainian troops launched the offensive on August 6, breaking months of setbacks after battling a Russian invasion for more than two years.

The top general also told President Volodymyr Zelensky the 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 center of Sumy, the regional hub across the border from Kursk, dozens of mourners gathered on Thursday to pay their respects to six Ukrainian soldiers killed in the offensive.

Tearful family members received a 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 honored 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. 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 more than 120,000 people have left or been evacuated.

"I was very scared, very scared. Shells were flying from all sides, helicopters, planes, fighter jets were flying over the house," Nina Golinyaeva, an evacuee from Sudzha, told AFP.

"In the evening I saw soldiers in the streets," she added. "They said, 'You must evacuate urgently, otherwise they will kill you.'"

- 'Completed destruction' -

Ukraine's assault took Russian troops by surprise.

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

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

Russia's defense 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 neighboring regions, particularly Belgorod.

Russia has prepared "concrete actions" to defend Belgorod from Ukrainian attacks, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said at a meeting with officials, including Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

They include "the allocation of additional forces."

Kursk and Belgorod have seen small incursions since President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but nothing on this scale.

- Intensity of attacks -

Ukrainian officials have argued the offensive was an act of "self-defense" and experts suggest it could be aimed at alleviating pressure on the eastern front.

Ukrainian troops are still struggling in the eastern Donbas region, a key Russian target.

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

Authorities in three Ukrainian regions reported at least five civilian deaths in Russian strikes, including Donetsk in the east, Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson in the south.

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

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

In a briefing, Russia's defense ministry said its army had "liberated the village of Ivanovka", using the Russian name for it.

Russian forces have been inching towards Pokrovsk for months, taking a string of villages on the way to the city outskirts.