Russian President Vladimir Putin today welcomed the acceleration of the Russian army's advance in the east of Ukraine, which, he said, was proof that the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region of Russia, launched at the beginning of August, was doomed to failure.
Ukraine suffered another massive rocket and drone attack last night, particularly on the capital Kyiv, in which at least three people were wounded and the Islamic Cultural Center damaged, authorities said.
On August 6, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack on Russia's border region of Kursk, quickly capturing several dozen towns, including the small town of Soudha.
Although Russia has so far tried to minimize the significance of that Ukrainian offensive that surprised Moscow, Putin said today that it is necessary to "deal with those bandits who entered the territory of Russia".
He assessed that the army of Ukraine "did not achieve the main task (that) it set for itself: stopping the (Russian) offensive in Donbas", in the industrial east of Ukraine, where most of the fighting is still taking place.
"That's why I'm sure this provocation will fail," he added, referring to the Ukrainian operation in Kursk.
Despite Ukrainian successes on Russian soil, the Russian military continues to advance in eastern Ukraine, which it has accelerated significantly in recent weeks.
Russian forces occupied more than 477 square kilometers in August, their biggest monthly advance since October 2022, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISV).
The Ukrainian army occupied between 1.150 and 1.300 square kilometers in the Kursk region, but this progress stalled.
Russian troops announced today that they captured Skoutne, a village near the town of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub less than ten kilometers from it.
According to the mayor of Pokrovsko, Sergi Dobrijak, 30.500 residents are still in the city, despite the approach of fighting and repeated calls from the authorities to evacuate urgently.
"Before street fighting starts, we have several lines of defense," he told Radio Svoboda.
For the Ukrainian authorities, who have confirmed that the Kursk operation was aimed, among other things, at forcing Russia to move forces that are on the offensive in the east to the region, this seems complicated to achieve.
According to Putin, Russian troops are now advancing several square kilometers during each attack, rather than hundreds of meters as before.
"It has been a long time since we experienced such a tempo of offensive in Donbas," he boasted.
As a new challenge to international justice, Putin arrived in Mongolia today on his first trip to a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since his arrest warrant was issued.
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