On August 6, Ukraine launched its largest incursion into Russia, with Ukrainian troops entering the region of Kursk, catching Moscow by surprise and putting Russian forces on the back foot for the first time in the conflict.

On Tuesday, during the ‘Ukraine 2024. Independence’ forum, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, provided an update on Ukraine’s cross-border offensive.

“The Kursk operation has led to the redirection of a significant number of enemy forces,” said Syrsky. “At this moment, we can state that approximately 30,000 Russian soldiers have already been sent in the direction of Kursk. This number is constantly growing.”

“We continue to move forward; today we control 1,294 square kilometers of territory, including more than 100 settlements. Additionally, 594 Russian servicemen have been captured in this direction,” he continued.

Syrsky stated that one of the main objectives of the Kursk offensive was to draw Russian reserves away from critical areas of the battlefield.

“The decision to launch an offensive in the Kursk direction was made to create a security zone, stop shelling from the territory of the Russian Federation, and protect civilian objects in the [Ukraine’s northeastern] Sumy region,” he added.

The general also said that Russia is trying to create “a ring of defense around our [Ukrainian] offensive group and is planning further counter-offensive actions.”

“Our further actions in this direction will depend on the development of the operational situation,” he concluded.