At least 31 civilians were killed and 256 were wounded in the Ukrainian offensive in Russia’s Kursk region as of September 5th, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.
Ukraine on August 6th launched the biggest foreign attack on Russia since the second World War, bursting through the border into the western Kursk region supported by swarms of drones and heavy weaponry, including western-made arms.
Russia said 131,000 civilians had left the most dangerous areas of the Kursk region.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in the United States on Sunday for a crucial visit to present Kyiv’s plan to end two-and-a-half years of war with Russia.
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He will present his proposals – which he calls a “victory plan” – to president Joe Biden, as well as presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and will also attend sessions at the UN general assembly.
The visit comes after a summer of intense fighting, with Moscow advancing fast in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv holding on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region.
Kyiv has for weeks pressed the West to allow it to use delivered long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia – so far to no avail.
Mr Zelenskiy urged his partners to help achieve “a shared victory for a truly just peace”, in a post on X with his nightly video address. “This fall will determine the future of this war,” he said in the address, delivered from a plane.
In an interview with the New Yorker, the Ukrainian president said Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, is “too radical” in his ideas of how to end the war in Ukraine.
Mr Vance, who has criticised US aid packages to Ukraine and pushed for negotiations with Russia, suggested earlier this month that Mr Trump’s plan to end the war could include the establishment of a special demilitarised zone between Ukraine and Russia.
Mr Vance said Ukraine would retain its sovereignty but would have to give assurances to Moscow that it would not join Nato or any other allied institutions.
“The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable,” said Mr Zelenskiy. “But I do not consider this concept of his a plan, in any formal sense.” – Agencies