Ukraine sets up headquarters in occupied Kursk region, says it is still advancing

PHOTO CAPTION: Ukraine servicemen prepare a Caesar self-propelled howitzer to fire towards Russian troops, outside the town of Pokrovsk, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine August 13, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's top commander said on Thursday Kyiv had set up a military commandant's office in the occupied part of Russia's Kursk region where he said his forces were still advancing and had taken up to 1.5 km (0.93 miles) in the last 24 hours.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a video published by the Ukrainian leader that Kyiv's forces had advanced 35 km into Russia's Kursk region since launching an incursion last week.

Kyiv's surge into Russian territory last week caught Moscow by surprise, seizing the initiative from Russian forces who have been grinding out small but steady gains all year in the east of the country.

Syrskyi said Ukrainian forces had taken 82 settlements under control during the incursion and an area of 1,150 square kilometres.

He said he was appointing Major General Eduard Moskalyov to head up a military commandant's office in the Kyiv-held part of western Russia.

"We are moving forward in Kursk region. A military commandant's office has been created which must ensure order and also all the needs of the local population," Syrskyi said in a written statement on his Telegram channel.



(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Philippa Fletcher)