Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the entry of the country's army into the Russian Kursk region represents efforts to end Russian aggression on Kiev's terms.
"The invasion on August 6 and the Ukrainian defense in the east of the country, where Russia has concentrated its offensive, are part of the way to end the war under the conditions of an independent Ukraine," Zelensky said in the Ukrainian capital.
He previously stayed in the border area of Ukraine and Russia, from where the army of that country, in the first two weeks, made a breakthrough into Russian territory.
On that occasion, Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces could soon occupy another Russian village.
On the same day, Moscow announced that Russian troops had captured the village of Mezhovo in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region.
Reuters was unable to verify and confirm the claims of Kiev and Moscow about the situation on the front.
The Ukrainian authorities also announced that they attacked an air base in the south of Russia with drones at a time when Russia is holding positions and slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine, two and a half years since the beginning of the aggression.
Moscow also claims that it prevented an attempt by Ukrainian forces to infiltrate Russian territory - a place about 240 kilometers away from the Kursk area, where they succeeded in doing so in early August.
Kiev has claimed a string of battlefield successes since launching the offensive, but Moscow has been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, putting pressure on Ukrainian troops exhausted by the Russian invasion.
While Russia claims that the Ukrainian offensive on its soil has been stopped, official Kiev points out that it is making progress.
The actions of the Ukrainian army on the territory of Russia raised morale among soldiers and citizens ahead of the celebration of the thirty-third anniversary of independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
At the same time, the US embassy in Kyiv warned of the risk of Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine in the coming days - which, as stated, is connected to the celebration of Ukraine's Independence Day.
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