Ukraine controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says

The Ukrainian military currently controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 13.

Ukraine's cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast began on Aug. 6, and by Aug. 12, Ukraine said it had control over 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.

Kursk Oblast covers just under 30,000 square kilometers, a similar size to the U.S. state of Maryland or the German state of Brandenburg.  

Russia's regional authorities claimed on Aug. 12 that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast, and alleged that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40-kilometer front.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 13 that Ukraine's Armed Forces advanced 3 kilometers and took control over another 40 square kilometers of Russian territory.

Zelensky said he is "constantly in touch" with Syrskyi about the situation in Kursk.

"Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in Kursk Oblast continues," Zelensky said.

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"Humanitarian solutions for these territories" are being established, Zelensky added.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on Aug. 13 that "unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory," but wants to "protect the lives of our people."

Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, Tykhyi said.

"Since the beginning of this summer, Ukraine's Sumy Oblast has been targeted with over 2,000 strikes using multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, drones, 255 guided bombs, and more than a hundred missiles, launched from Kursk Oblast," Tykhyi said.

"Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror," Tykhyi said.