Russia claims military pushing Ukraine's troops out of Kursk region

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian forces are already pushing Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

Speaking at a roundtable meeting with heads of diplomatic missions in Moscow, Lavrov addressed the ongoing situation around Ukraine and described the incursion into the Kursk region as "part of Ukraine’s attacks on civilian infrastructure."

"We are seeing an increase in attacks on civilian targets, as demonstrated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces' incursion into the Kursk region with terrorist intent. They are now being steadily driven out, and there is no doubt that this process will continue," Lavrov said.

The minister emphasized that the Ukrainian army continues to target civilians in the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, and periodically launches drone attacks on other border areas of Russia.

Maj. Gen. Apty Alaudinov, deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces and commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, said on Wednesday that Russian forces liberated 10 settlements in the Kursk region.

Fighting continues both in the Kursk region – where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion on Aug. 5-6 – and in eastern Ukraine, where Russia claims to be making progress on several fronts.