The Ukrainian military now controls 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk border region, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The governor of the Kursk region, where Ukraine is mounting a week-long incursion, previously said on Monday that Ukraine controls 28 settlements.

“There are 74 settlements under the control of Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Tuesday in his evening address.

The President said that “despite difficult, intense fighting, the advance of our forces in the Kursk region continues”.

He posted footage showing him holding a video call with military chief Oleksandr Syrsky.

Syrsky tells him: “As of today, our troops have advanced in some areas by 1 to 3 km.”

Ukraine’s cross-border incursion into neighboring Kursk border region began on August 6, and by August 12, Ukraine said it had control over 1,000 square km of Russian territory.

Kursk region covers just under 30,000 square km, a similar size to the US state of Maryland or the German state of Brandenburg.

Russia’s regional authorities claimed on August 12 that Ukraine is in control of 28 settlements in Kursk region, and alleged that the incursion was up to 12 km deep along a 40-km front.

Ukrainian Military Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s Armed Forces advanced 3 km and took control over another 40 square km of Russian territory.

Zelensky said he is “constantly in touch” with Syrskyi about the situation in Kursk.

“Despite the difficult, intense battles, the advance of our forces in Kursk region continues,” Zelensky said.

Kursk incursion and Crimea strikes could ease pressure on Ukraine’s Donbas forces

“Humanitarian solutions for these territories” are being established, Zelensky added.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on Tuesday that “unlike Russia, Ukraine does not seek to seize territory,” but wants to “protect the lives of our people”.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region aims to prevent Moscow from sending additional reinforcements to the front in Donbas and stop Russian cross-border strikes, Tykhyi said.

“Since the beginning of this summer, Ukraine’s Sumy region has been targeted with more than 2,000 strikes using multiple launch rocket systems, mortars, drones, 255 guided bombs, and more than a hundred missiles, launched from Kursk region,” Tykhyi added.

“Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons it has to defend itself against this terror,” he said.