(LONDON) – Ukraine is continuing to try to expand its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. The Russian military reported several attempts by Ukrainian forces to push deeper into the region on Sunday evening. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the operation for the first time since it began six days ago.
The incursion, which some military analysts estimate may involve up to several thousand Ukrainian soldiers, has shocked Moscow and, according to Russian authorities, caused 76,000 Russian civilians to flee the border area.
With the help of tanks and armored vehicles from the West, Ukrainian forces captured several villages and advanced up to 19 kilometers during the operation. This is the first major foreign military invasion of Russia since World War II.
Russia is trying to send reinforcements to the region to repel the incursion, but has so far been unable to drive the Ukrainians out. Ukrainian forces are trying to expand their bridgehead around the town of Sudzha near the border.
The Ukrainian attack began last week and appeared to be a large-scale offensive operation involving at least two Ukrainian brigades.
Ukrainian government officials have so far remained tight-lipped about the operation, but late on Saturday Zelensky broke his silence. In an evening speech, Zelensky said his commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, had informed him several times about “Ukraine’s actions to expand the war to the territory of the aggressor.”
Zelensky did not mention Kursk directly, but thanked the Ukrainian units, adding: “Ukraine is proving that it really knows how to restore justice and guarantees exactly the kind of pressure that is needed – pressure on the aggressor.”
Ukraine is reportedly continuing to move troops into the Kursk region, according to Russian reports and journalists on the border with northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it had prevented Ukrainian troops from advancing on three villages located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) in the Kursk region. In its briefing, it said Russian forces, using aircraft, drones and artillery, had blocked “attempts by mobile groups with armored vehicles” near the villages of Tolpino, Zhuravli and Obshchy Kolodez to advance deep into Russian territory.
According to independent open-source military analysts tracking the conflict, Ukraine has made no significant progress since the first two days of the incursion, suggesting that Russia may be beginning to stabilize its position. But according to Russian pro-Kremlin military bloggers, Russian forces are still struggling to contain the Ukrainian advance. They warn that Ukraine may open new fronts elsewhere on the border as well.
Some military analysts estimate that the combat zone around Kursk now covers more than 350 square kilometers.
The Russian Defense Ministry has stated that the Ukrainian armed forces have suffered heavy losses. Since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has lost more than 1,100 soldiers and over 100 armored vehicles, including 22 tanks.
More Russian conscripts have been deployed to the region in recent days, including some transferred from front-line positions elsewhere, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC.
“Russian forces appear to be better able to defend themselves against Ukrainian attacks following the arrival of additional conscripts and more combat-ready forces from the front-line areas in Ukraine,” the think tank said on Saturday.
Small Ukrainian units have been spotted in villages northeast of the Kursk nuclear power plant, about 130 kilometers from the border, Russian military bloggers report. Russia has increased security at the plant, but most analysts believe it is still too far away for Ukrainian troops.
Some military analysts warned that the Ukrainian operation, using elements of some of its elite brigades, was a risky venture, as Ukrainian forces were overstaffed elsewhere.
The ultimate goal of the operation is still unclear. Most analysts believe that the operation is likely aimed at withdrawing Russian troops from other parts of Ukraine where Ukrainian forces are under pressure. Some analysts say the operation is also aimed at changing the perception of the war, as Ukraine has recently faced a seemingly unstoppable Russian advance in eastern Ukraine.
The move could also be aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s position in future negotiations, analysts say, possibly even including seizing territory to eventually exchange it for occupied Ukrainian land.
A well-known Russian pro-Kremlin military blogger, Yury Kotenok, claimed on his Telegram account on Sunday that Russian troops were being withdrawn from areas where Russia is conducting a successful offensive near the strategically important Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in Donbass and sent to Kursk.
ABC News’ Patrick Reevell and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
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