“Ukraine claims to have captured 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory.”

[Image description: Provided photo: Yonhap News.] Ukrainian forces claimed to have seized 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory for a week in the border region of Kursk province on the 12th of local time. According to Reuters, Ukrainian Army Commander Oleksandr Syrsky said during a staff meeting, “We are continuing military operations in the Kursk region” and stated, “We currently control about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian Federation territory.” The area of 1,000 square kilometers is 1.65 times the size of Seoul City, which is 605 square kilometers. Acting Governor of Kursk province Aleksei Smirnov stated that Ukraine had entered 12 kilometers into Russian territory across a 40-kilometer front line and had control over 28 villages with a total of around 2,000 residents. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the resilient and decisive operations of all soldiers and commanders in a video conference, commenting, “I am grateful for the flexible and decisive operations of all soldiers and commanders.” Zelensky directed the formulation of cautious plans within the operational area, a strategy for the return of Ukrainian civilians taken captive, and measures to obtain permission from Western countries to use long-range weapons. In a separate address, President Zelensky stated that since June 1, Russian forces had attacked the Ukrainian regions of Kursk and Sumy nearly 2,000 times, saying, “Russia started a war in another country and is now getting it back at home.”