Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Battalion published on Aug. 12 a video showing Ukrainian soldiers removing a Russian flag in the village of Darino in Russia's Kursk Oblast as Kyiv's offensive continues into the seventh day.
The Ukrainian military launched a surprise incursion across the border into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, bringing regular Ukrainian forces into Russia for the first time.
Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence on the incursion, despite the ongoing fighting and Ukraine advancing deeper into Russian territory.
Previously, videos of Ukrainian soldiers on Russian soil, including those from the town of Sudzha in Kursk Oblast and Belgorod Oblast, were shared on Telegram channels. The video published by the 225th battalion is the first footage from the Russian region published by the Ukrainian military officially.
"Darino. Fighters from the 225th Separate Assault Battalion are removing a rag from the administrative building after clearing it," the caption reads.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the location.
Darino is located some 4 kilometers (2 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russian pro-war Telegram channels claimed that Ukrainian forces reached it on Aug. 7.
Russia's regional authorities said that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk Oblast as of Aug. 12, claiming that the incursion was up to 12 kilometers deep along a 40 kilometer front.
Russian authorities on Aug. 9 introduced a so-called "counter-terrorism operation" in Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod oblasts, located on the Ukrainian border, in response to Ukraine's incursion.
Earlier on Aug. 9, Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending additional military equipment to Kursk Oblast's Sudzha district, 10 kilometers (6 miles) east of the Ukrainian border.
Alexey Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk Oblast, said that 121,000 people had so far been evacuated and another 59,000 needed to leave.
Francis Farrell
