Ukraine claimed fresh advances into Russian territory on Tuesday, saying it had captured 74 towns in the Kursk region, a week after launching a surprise offensive aimed at pushing Moscow to accept a “just peace.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the fighting as “difficult and intense” in the border area, where Ukrainian forces rushed in on August 6, catching Russian troops off guard. It was the largest incursion by a foreign army onto Russian soil since the end of World War II.
“There are 74 localities under the control of Ukraine. Inspections and stabilization measures are being carried out there,” the Ukrainian head of state said on Telegram. He also assured that “hundreds” of Russians had been taken prisoner.
Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Syrsky said his troops had “advanced in some areas by 1-3 kilometers” during the day, taking control of an additional “40 square kilometers.”
For their part, Russian forces announced that they had “thwarted” new Ukrainian attacks in the Kursk region, where they said they had sent reinforcements and inflicted losses on their adversaries.
After a week of rapid advance, General Syrsky claims that his soldiers have captured over 1,000 square kilometers of Russia.
The Russian authorities, for their part, acknowledged on Monday the loss of 28 localities and Ukrainian territorial gains extending over an area 40 kilometres wide and 12 kilometres deep.
According to calculations made by AFP on Tuesday from Russian sources relayed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank, Ukrainian troops have advanced 800 km2 in the Kursk region.
For comparison, Russia has advanced by 1,360 km.2 in Ukrainian territory since 1er January 2024, according to AFP analysis.
“Just Peace”
“When our men entered [sur le sol russe]”The Russians fled,” a Ukrainian soldier who took part in the attack, who we met on Tuesday in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, told AFP.
In this area, AFP was able to reach a destroyed Ukrainian border post. Along the road, a sign showed the Russian city of Kursk 108 kilometers away.
“Ukraine does not wish to annex territories in the Kursk region,” assured its foreign ministry spokesman, Georgiy Tykhy, deeming kyiv’s operations “absolutely legitimate” in the face of the Russian occupation of nearly 20% of the country.
This offensive, he promised, will stop if Moscow accepts the conditions set by Ukraine: “The sooner Russia agrees to re-establish a just peace […]the sooner the incursions of the Ukrainian defense forces into Russian territory will cease.
However, negotiations between the two belligerents are completely blocked due to the demands of each side, which are deemed unacceptable by the other.
President Zelensky has said he wants to prepare by November, the date of the next presidential election in the United States – a vital ally of kyiv – a plan that would serve as the basis for a future peace summit to which the Kremlin should be invited.
His counterpart Vladimir Putin, for his part, is demanding that kyiv cede to Russia the territories it occupies and renounce its membership of NATO.
On Monday, the Kremlin’s leader accused the Ukrainians of carrying out the operation in order to be in a better “position” in the event of talks.
Second wind
The Ukrainian offensive has already caused more than 120,000 residents to flee, according to Russian authorities. So far, at least 12 civilians have been killed and more than 100 have been injured.
Vladimir Putin, for whom the Ukrainian attack is an unexpected setback, ordered his army to “expel the enemy” from Russia, assuring that he saw behind this operation the hand of “the West”. [qui] is at war with us.”
On the ground, AFP saw Ukrainian armoured vehicles gathering near the border in the Sumy region and, in the opposite direction, a vehicle carrying around 10 men in Russian military fatigues, blindfolded and with their hands tied.
“Since our guys attacked there, it has become much calmer,” says Anatoly Symonenko, a 59-year-old man, according to whom the Russians had previously bombed his village very frequently.
In this Ukrainian region, which faces Kursk, at least 20,000 civilians are also being evacuated.
After several complicated months on the eastern front, Ukrainian troops seem to have found a second wind thanks to this unexpected success.
The soldier interviewed by AFP swears that he is ready to “hold the ground” conquered in a week: “We too are going to put down roots.”