Zelensky reassures Ukrainian soldiers fighting across the border

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted for the first time that his forces carried out a cross-border attack in Russia’s western Kursk region.

In his video speech late on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army was pushing the war “to the territory of the aggressors”.

Kyiv launched its surprise attack on Tuesday, quickly advancing more than 10km (six miles) inside Russia – the longest offensive since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In Ukraine, the capital Kyiv and several other regions were attacked by Russian drones and missiles early Sunday, local officials said.

In his speech, President Zelensky thanked the “heroes” of Ukraine and said that he discussed the Russian operation with the country’s military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi.

“Ukraine proves that it can really restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor,” he added.

Russia has so far struggled to halt the Ukrainian advance, with more than 76,000 people evacuated from the Kursk region and an “anti-terrorist” regime imposed on three border regions.

This means that authorities in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions can restrict the movement of people and vehicles and use wiretapping among other measures.

The battle appeared to be continuing on Saturday night, with Kursk Governor Aleksei Smirnov saying early Sunday that some people had been injured in the “insidious” attack on Ukraine.

Earlier he reported that 13 people were injured on Saturday when debris from a Ukrainian missile fell on the floor of a multi-storey building in the regional capital of Kursk.

The governors of the neighboring Russian regions of Voronezh and Belgorod also reported a Ukrainian drone attack overnight. They didn’t talk about injuries.

In Ukraine, a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old son were killed in the Kyiv region when a piece of a rocket fell on residential buildings, emergency services said on Sunday.

Three others were injured, including a 13-year-old child.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko tweeted early Sunday morning that air defense facilities were “active” and warned residents to stay in shelters.

Ukraine’s rare offensive against Russia began on Tuesday morning, when up to 1,000 troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, entered the Kursk region, Russia said.

The Ukrainians have since been reported to have seized a number of villages, and threatened the regional town of Sudzha.

On Friday, a video surfaced showing armed Ukrainian soldiers claiming to be in control of the city, as well as a key Russian gas plant owned by the Gazprom company.

BBC Verify confirmed that the video was from a Gazprom facility on the northwestern edge of Sudzha, about 7 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The video alone does not confirm the claim that Ukrainian forces have taken over the entire city.

Russian military correspondents previously said the city was still in Moscow’s hands.

BBC Verify confirmed the location of another video posted online on Friday morning. It shows a convoy of 15 Russian vehicles damaged, burned and abandoned on the road through the town of Oktyabrskoe, about 38 kilometers from the border on the Russian side.

The video also shows Russian soldiers – some injured, some possibly dead – among the vehicles.

Moscow has sent reinforcements – including tanks and rocket launchers – to the Kursk region, saying Russian forces “continue to repulse attempted attacks” on Ukrainian forces.

The Russian claim has never been independently verified.

On Friday, the UN nuclear watchdog urged Russia and Ukraine to “restrain themselves” as war nears the Kursk nuclear power plant – one of Russia’s largest.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that measures must be taken to “avoid a nuclear accident that could have serious radiation consequences”.

The power station is located approximately 60km north-east of Sudzha.