ALBAWABA - Ukraine said today it will stop cross-border assaults if Moscow accepts "just peace." Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Georgiy Tykhy told a press conference, "The speed with which Russia agrees to a just peace will expedite the halt of Ukrainian defense forces' attacks on Russia."
Russia said it "thwarted" further Ukrainian attacks in Kursk today. In its daily briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it "repelled attempts by enemy mobile groups in armored vehicles to penetrate deep into Russian territory" near multiple settlements.
Agence France-Presse claimed that Ukraine has gained control of at least 800 square kilometers of Russian land in Kursk by Monday evening, citing Institute for the Study of War statistics.
On August 6, Kyiv launched a surprise military offensive in Kursk, taking almost twenty towns and villages in Russia's greatest cross-border attack since World War II.
Putin ordered his forces to "expel" Ukrainian soldiers on Monday, and officials reported that over 120,000 civilians had been evacuated.
On Monday, Ukrainian Army Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video that his forces now control 1,000 square kilometers of Russian land and are continuing their "offensive operations."
The Ukrainian General Staff said today that civilian movements are banned within 20 kilometers of Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, bordering the Russian border. The step is needed owing to increased warfare and Russian "for sabotage and reconnaissance."
The General Staff said the limitation is temporary and that inhabitants of Kursk's bordering territory can still enter their houses with registration confirmation.
Today, Russian news outlets claimed that Russian air defense troops destroyed 14 Ukrainian drones targeting Kursk, Voronezh, and Belgorod overnight. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported 12 drones destroyed over Kursk, Voronezh, and Belgorod.
