Kyiv has set up a military commandant's office in the occupied part of Russia's Kursk region where Ukrainian forces are still advancing and have taken up to 1.5 km in the last 24 hours.
Ukraine's top commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky, told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a video published by the Ukrainian leader that Kyiv's forces had advanced 35 km into the Kursk region since launching an incursion into Russia last week.
Writing on Telegram, Syrskyi said: “We are moving forward in the Kursk region. A military commandant's office has been created which must ensure order and also all the needs of the local population.”
Kyiv's surge into Russian territory last week caught Moscow by surprise, seizing the initiative from Russian forces who have been grinding out small but steady gains all year in the east of the country.
Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces had taken 82 settlements under control during the incursion and an area of 1,150 square kilometres.
He said he was appointing Major General Eduard Moskalyov to head up a military commandant's office in the Kyiv-held part of western Russia.
The colonel general indicated Kyiv's rate of advance had slowed in Kursk region.
He said Kyiv had taken between 500 metres and 1.5 km in the last 24 hours, compared with between one and two km reported the day before.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who spoke cryptically of the need to prepare the "next steps" in his public remarks on Wednesday, again hinted at other possible offensive actions on Russian territory.
"We must clearly guarantee at the legislative level that our warriors, who participate, for example, in the Kursk operation and will participate in all our other actions on the territory of the aggressor state, will receive absolutely all payments and benefits designated for the front line," he said.
Writing on Telegram, Syrskyi said: “We are moving forward in the Kursk region. A military commandant's office has been created which must ensure order and also all the needs of the local population.”
Kyiv's surge into Russian territory last week caught Moscow by surprise, seizing the initiative from Russian forces who have been grinding out small but steady gains all year in the east of the country.
Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces had taken 82 settlements under control during the incursion and an area of 1,150 square kilometres.
He said he was appointing Major General Eduard Moskalyov to head up a military commandant's office in the Kyiv-held part of western Russia.
The colonel general indicated Kyiv's rate of advance had slowed in Kursk region.
He said Kyiv had taken between 500 metres and 1.5 km in the last 24 hours, compared with between one and two km reported the day before.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who spoke cryptically of the need to prepare the "next steps" in his public remarks on Wednesday, again hinted at other possible offensive actions on Russian territory.
"We must clearly guarantee at the legislative level that our warriors, who participate, for example, in the Kursk operation and will participate in all our other actions on the territory of the aggressor state, will receive absolutely all payments and benefits designated for the front line," he said.
Source: Reuters, BBC
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