Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Friday that Kyiv's forces were advancing between one and three kilometers in some areas in the Kursk region, 11 days since beginning an incursion into Russia.
Kyiv has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometers in the region since August 6. Ukraine's foreign ministry said the figure exceeded Russia's advancement in Ukraine this year.
Briefing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video link, Syrskyi reported fighting in the area of Malaya Loknya, about 11.5 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. He said he hoped the fighting there would allow the Kyiv military to capture "many prisoners."
"The Kursk region operation - we are strengthening our positions and replenishing 'exchange fund' for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on X after Syrskyi's report.
Kyiv officials said that at least hundreds of Russian troops had been taken prisoner, expressing hope it would speed up the swapping of Ukrainian fighters held in Russian captivity.
Russia has called the incursion a "major provocation" and vowed to retaliate with a "worthy response," more than 2½ years since it launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Russia's defense ministry said Friday that its troops had repelled Ukrainian attacks in several areas, including near the villages of Gordeevka, Russkoe Porechnoe and others.
Zelenskyy hailed Russia's losses in the Kursk region as "very helpful" for Ukraine's defense.
"It concerns the destruction of the Russian army logistics and the draining of their reserves," he said in an evening address.
Kyiv air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram that aviation was an active part of the operation, targeting the enemy's supply routes and logistics centers.
He posted a video of a strike on a bridge.
Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said Ukraine had destroyed a road bridge over the Seym River in the region's Glushkovsky district.
Objective in the east
The heaviest fighting, though, was continuing in Ukraine's east, where Russian troops for months have been inching toward the strategic hub of Pokrovsk.
Analysts said that distracting Russian forces from the east was one of the aims of Ukraine's Kursk operation. But so far there was no indication of letup in the east.
Russian forces were 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6 kilometers from nearby Myrnohrad, according to local officials.
"If the objective was to divert the Russian effort from the Donbas, it's failed so far," said Yohann Michel, a French military expert and research fellow at the IESD Institute in Lyon, France.
He said Kyiv was aiming to maximize the effect of the Kursk offensive while Russia was trying to do the same in Ukraine's east.
"It's probably the first one who will blink who will have to stop his own offensive," he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was "not for a second" forgetting about the east and promised fresh weapons deliveries — over what was planned — to strengthen the positions.
