Zelenskyy: Ukraine strengthening positions in Russia's Kursk region

(Patria) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that his troops had strengthened their positions in Russia's Kursk region nearly two weeks after an incursion and called for brave decisions from Kyiv's allies to allow long-range strikes, Reuters reported.

Ukraine says it has captured more than 80 settlements across more than 1,150 square kilometers in Kursk since August 6 in the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two.

Zelenskyy said that Army Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian troops continued to advance and captured more Russian soldiers. He said the operation in the Kursk region was proceeding according to plan and that Ukrainian troops continued to advance and strengthen their positions.

Zelenskyy renewed his calls to Ukraine's Western allies to allow long-range strikes into Russia.

"The long-range capability of our forces is the answer to all the most important, most strategic questions of this war," he said in his daily video address to the nation.

"We will intensify our diplomatic work. We will insist that brave steps and brave decisions are needed," he added.

Western governments providing military aid to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February 2022 have so far refused to allow Kyiv to use long-range weapons due to the risk of escalating the conflict.

The Ukrainian military said in its daily report that troops were successfully advancing further into Kursk, offering no further details. Previously, an advance of 35 km was reported.

Russia called the incursion a major provocation and vowed to respond with a "worthy response," more than two and a half years after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow says Ukraine used Western weapons, including likely US-made HIMARS missiles, to destroy a bridge and kill volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.

Zelenskyy also said that Ukrainian troops repelled dozens of Russian attacks near
Pokrovsk and Toretsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. The military said 51 Russian attacks were stopped near Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the eastern region, and another 13 near the town of Toretsk in the last 24 hours.