Ukraine has set up a military administrative office in Russia’s Kursk region, where its surprise incursion into Russian territory continues, according to its top military commander.
Gen Oleksandr Syrsky said the office would “maintain law and order” and “meet the immediate needs” of the population in the area.
In a video posted on social media, Gen Syrsky is seen telling a meeting chaired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the office has been created “on the territories controlled by Ukraine”.
Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov has said Moscow will send reinforcements to “safeguard” the population in the region.
Ukraine also claimed to have made further gains in its incursion on Thursday.
Ukrainian troops were 35km inside the Kursk region, where they control 1,150sq km of territory, including 82 settlements, Gen Syrsky said.
Now on its 10th day, this is Ukraine’s deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
But Kyiv has said it is not interested in “taking over” Russian territory.
Instead, the incursion is an attempt to pressure Moscow into agreeing to “restore a just peace”, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy told reporters on Wednesday.
In light of the incursion, Russian officials have prepared plans for “additional measures” to safeguard the population and infrastructure in areas bordering Ukraine.
The measures involve improving the “management of troops” in the Belgorod region, which neighbours Kursk, according to a video published on the Russian defence ministry’s Telegram channel.
Interfax news agency said the plan would also apply to Kursk and Bryansk regions. All three border Ukraine.
Russia has also declared a federal level emergency in the Belgorod region. On Monday, 11,000 people were evacuated from the Krasnaya Yaruga district in Belgorod, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
Despite this, Moscow also claims it has recaptured some lost territory. In a statement, the defence ministry said it had regained control of the Krupets settlement in the Kursk region.
The developments came as a UK source confirmed to the BBC that tanks donated by the UK had been used during Ukraine’s Russian incursion.
The UK Ministry of Defence did not officially comment on which specific UK weapons have been used by Ukraine, but the department reiterated that Ukraine had a “clear right” to use UK-supplied weapons for “self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks”.
The UK was one of the first countries to provide modern Western battle tanks to Ukraine, donating 14 Challenger 2 tanks in the past year. But that was for a Ukrainian offensive to recapture its own territory.
The Ministry of Defence has insisted that there has been no change in policy.
