Volodymyr Zelenskyy has acknowledged Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region for the first time.
The Ukrainian president said the offensive was part of a drive to restore justice after Russia invaded in 2022.
Russia said Ukrainian forces had pushed into the Kursk region last Tuesday and Russian military bloggers said they made some headway, but claimed the situation has since stabilised.
War latest: Deadly missile attack on Kyiv
On Wednesday, Moscow’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, said the attacks had been halted, but Russia has so far failed to repel the Ukrainian forces from its territory.
Officials in Kursk said on Sunday that 13 people were injured in the city after debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile fell on to a nine-storey residential building.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 14 Ukraine-launched drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles over the Kursk region.
Drones were also downed over the Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Orlov regions, it added.
On Saturday, Russia said it had used a thermobaric bomb against Ukrainian forces as it announced a “counter-terrorism” operation to retaliate against Ukraine’s shock invasion of Kursk.
Russia has announced it has increased security measures in the border regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. The measures allow the government to relocate residents, control phone communications and requisition vehicles.
A Russian military helicopter fires following Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk. Pic: Reuters
Kursk’s acting governor Alexei Smirnov has ordered local authorities to speed up the evacuation of civilians in areas at risk.
On Saturday, more than 76,000 people had been evacuated, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
In a video posted on social media on Friday, soldiers purporting to be from the 61st Brigade holding a Ukrainian flag appeared to be standing outside a Gazprom facility in the Russian town of Sudzha.
“Everything is calm in the town,” they say, adding: “All the buildings are safe, strategic object of Gazprom in Sudzha is under the control of the 99th Mechanised Battalion.”
Zelenskyy vows to restore justice
In his nightly video address, Mr Zelenskyy vowed to restore justice for Russia’s invasion.
He said he had discussed the operation with top Ukrainian military officer Oleksandr Syrskyi, saying: “Today, I received several reports from commander-in-chief Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war on to the aggressor’s territory.
“Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor.”
A Ukrainian serviceman riding in an infantry fighting vehicle near the Russian border. Pic: Reuters
Russia attacks Ukrainian capital
It comes as Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early on Sunday.
Air defence systems on the outskirts of the city repelled the attacks, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
“Air defence units operating, air raid alert continues,” he wrote on Telegram.
A four-year-old boy and his 35-year-old father died when debris from a downed Russian weapon fell on the house they were living in near the capital city, Ukrainian officials said.
A 13-year-old child was among the injured in the attack in the Brovary district, Ukraine’s emergency services said pon Telegram.
Workers were shown, in a video posted by the emergency services, lifting the body of a child from underneath the debris.
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