Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes first trip to border area since incursion into Russia

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made his first visit to the border area since his forces launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month.

Speaking to military officials in Sumy, Zelenskyy said the new POWs from Kursk would help build an “exchange fund” to swap for captured Ukrainians.

“Another settlement in the Kursk region is now under Ukrainian control and we have replenished the exchange fund,” Zelenskyy wrote on X after hearing a report from his country’s top military commander, Oleksander Syrsky.

Zelenskyy did not name the newly captured village and did not cross over into Russia, which would been regarded by Moscow as a provocation.

He has previously said that Ukraine has no plans to occupy the area long term but wants to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks from that area into Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said the Kursk incursion which was launched on August 6 has reduced Russian shelling and civilian casualties in the Sumy region. It has also seen Ukraine take control of more Russian territory than Russia has managed all year in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Marinovka Air Base in Volgograd, an online video showed on Thursday.

A video posted anonymously on a local Telegram channel showed thick black smoke rising from the air base near Kalach-on-Don.

Regional governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed that a defence ministry facility had been attacked with drones and said there had been no casualties.

Outside Moscow on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the situation with governors of regions bordering Ukraine.

Putin claimed that Ukraine had attempted to strike the Kursk nuclear power plant.

“The International Atomic Energy Agency has been informed. They promise to come themselves and send specialists to assess the situation. I hope that it will be done by them in the end,” he told the governors.

Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, said that over 133,000 people have left the areas affected by fighting and that over 19,000 local residents had chosen to stay.

“We keep resettling people to safe places,” he said.

Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said that authorities in the region had conducted training for emergency evacuation from border areas in case such need arises.

“We have also prepared 12 temporary accommodation centres for accommodating 1,580 residents. If necessary, we can expand facilities for 32,000 people,” he told Putin.

And in Washington, US officials said the Biden administration will send about $125 million (€112 million) in new military aid to Ukraine, even as Washington works to get a better understanding of the Kursk incursion and how it advances battlefield goals more than two years into the war.

The latest package will reportedly include air defence missiles, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelins and an array of other anti-armour missiles, counter-drone and counter-electronic warfare systems.