The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) continue to increase the territories under its control "along the border with Ukraine" within the framework of the invasion in Russia's Kursk region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily evening video address, quoted by DPA and BTA.
He gave no further details, but said more Russian prisoners of war had been taken and could be used in a possible exchange.
"Thank you, fighters! This is something that will bring home so many of our people from Russian captivity," Zelensky said.
Ukrainian troops invaded Russia on August 6, making a surprise entry into the Kursk region.
In his address last night, Zelensky said the offensive was also helping to take some of the pressure off Ukrainian troops fighting in the Donetsk region, which is currently the epicenter of fierce fighting for control of it. Otherwise, he said, Kiev's forces there could be put under even greater pressure.
However, regardless of this, no clear improvement in the situation of the troops of this direction has been noticed so far. Western observers point out in this direction the progress of the Russian army in the Pokrovsk area.
Zelensky admitted that the situation in the Donetsk region is "extremely complicated".
"The main Russian efforts and their greatest forces are concentrated there,", he said.
Authorities have ordered residents of Pokrovsk, a strategically important railway junction city, to evacuate in view of advancing Russian troops that are closing in on Pokrovsk. However, 38,000 people, including 1,900 children, still remain in the city.
The head of the Donetsk military administration, Vadim Filashkin, announced that starting next week on Monday, all bank branches in Pokrovsk will be closed. Only ATMs will work in the city.
Zelensky also said that a Russian airstrike in the eastern city of Kupyansk in the afternoon yesterday left several victims and called on Western leaders to allow Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes, Reuters reported , quoted by BTA.
"There was a guided air bomb attack on Kupyansk - right in the center of the city, people were left under the rubble. "Unfortunately, there have been deaths," Zelensky said in his evening address without specifying the number of victims.
Kupyansk, which is 35 km from the border with Russia, was hit in the afternoon, local authorities said. The strike injured 14 people and caused damage to the town hall building, wrote in the messaging application "Telegram". the regional prosecutor's office.
In his address, Zelensky also said that the West should lift restrictions on long-range airstrikes by Ukraine.
"We continue to insist that decisiveness now, lifting restrictions on Ukraine for long-range strikes now, will help us end the war as quickly as possible and in a fair way for Ukraine and for the whole world," he concluded.