Zelensky says Ukraine advancing in Kursk region, Russian border region declares emergency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces are advancing in Russia’s southern Kursk region by 1 to 2 kilometers since the beginning of the day on Wednesday. Kyiv has already claimed to have control over some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory since the start of its surprise assault.

“We are advancing in the Kursk region, 1 to 2 kilometers in various areas since the beginning of the day,” Zelensky said in a video call with Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Wednesday.

Zelensky also stated 100 Russian servicemen had been captured, adding that this will “accelerate the return of our guys and girls.”

The incursion – which poses a major embarrassment for the Kremlin – has prompted an angered Russia to take peace negotiations off the table for the foreseeable future.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, said at a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow will be “at minimum” putting the talks with Ukraine on a “long pause”. Peace negotiations between the warring nations have proven unsuccessful since the start of the war in February 2022.

Meanwhile, the Russian border region of Belgorod declared an emergency on Wednesday after new attacks by Ukrainian forces.

“The situation in the Belgorod region continues to be extremely difficult and tense,” Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video message posted on his Telegram account on Wednesday.

The declaration came after Belgorod began evacuations on Monday as a result of Ukrainian advances.

It was a notable change in tactics for Ukraine and marked the first time foreign troops had entered Russian territory since World War II. Kyiv didn’t officially acknowledge its troops were operating inside Russia until several days later.

Regional authorities are now appealing to the Russian government to declare a federal emergency, Gladkov added.

Two locations in Belgorod, the city of Shebekino and the village of Ustinka, had been attacked by Ukrainian drones, he continued. There were no casualties but two residences were damaged.

Russia’s National Guard said on Wednesday that it had tightened security around the Kursk nuclear plant in Russia’s southwest following the surprise incursion. The National Guard, known as the ‘Rosgvardiya’, added that it had taken “additional measures” to protect the power plant.

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was “monitoring the situation on the reported military activities taking place in the vicinity of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant”, with its director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, urging both sides to “exercise maximum restraint” in order to avoid “a nuclear accident”.

Since the incursion began, tens of thousands of Russians have fled their homes while Moscow scrambles to contain the attack, imposing counter-terror operations in Kursk, Belgorod and another border region, Bryansk.

On Monday, Kyiv claimed to have gained control of nearly the same amount of land that Russia had seized so far this year – though that is still dwarfed by the total Ukrainian territory held by Russia since the conflict started in 2014.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed its forces were in control of 74 settlements in Kursk and that they are making preparations for “next steps” in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile vowed to “kick the enemy out” of Russia – though his troops have yet to stop the Ukrainian advance.

US President Joe Biden addressed the incursion on Tuesday, saying he was receiving regular updates from staff and that it was “creating a real dilemma for Putin”.