Ukraine's army chief on Tuesday said that Kyiv's troops control nearly 1,300 square kilometres (500 sq miles) of Russia's Kursk region since the recent incursion.
Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi also said that Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners in its Kursk operation.
"They are attempting to create a ring of defence around our offensive group of troops and plan counteroffensive actions," said Syrskyi.
In retaliatory strikes against Ukraine's incursion, Russia launched over 100 missiles and drones on Kyiv on Sunday. Around five people were killed and over 15 got injured in the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said around 81 drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles were launched by Russia. Zelenskyy urged the Western allies to join together and “act now” to stop Russia’s advancement.
"We will undoubtedly respond to Russia for this and all other attacks. Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished," said Zelenskyy.
Around 1,30,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes during the Kursk operation. Since the attack was quite unexpected, Russia was making slow advances in efforts to gain ground in the region.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine lost around 6,600 troops in Kursk during the operation. Over 70 tanks have been destroyed along with scores of armoured vehicles, it added.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, "the energy infrastructure has once again become the target of Russian terrorists and urged Ukraine's allies to provide it with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia."
Zelenskyy accused Russia of targeting its energy infrastructure, causing power outages in over 15 regions, including Kyiv. Also, US President Joe Biden called Russia’s attack on the energy sector “outrageous.” He added that the US was surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid.
