San Antonio-Sized Swath of Russia Now Under Ukraine Control: Kyiv

Ukraine controls nearly 500 square miles of territory in Russia's border Kursk region, according to Kyiv's army chief, as Moscow grapples with Kyiv's continuing advances that have rejuvenated Ukrainian troops nearly two and a half years into the war effort.

Ukraine now controls 93 settlements in Kursk, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in remarks reported by Ukrainian media on Tuesday. Kyiv has a grip on just under 489 square miles of territory, or around 1,263 square kilometers, the army commander added, which is roughly the size of the Texas city of San Antonio.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Ukraine is more than two weeks into its surprise push into Kursk, thousands of troops involved in the most significant advance into internationally-recognized Russian territory of the war.

Kyiv's forces quickly advanced across the border, targeting the areas around the towns of Sudzha and Korenovo as Russia struggled to contain the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Kyiv had taken full control of Sudzha. The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said on Tuesday that Ukraine had advanced in eastern Korenovo and around the northeastern outskirts of the settlement.

"The operation is unfolding exactly as we expected," Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday. "Now we are reinforcing our positions. The foothold of our presence is getting stronger."

Syrskyi said Ukraine had advanced up to 35 kilometers, or just shy of 22 miles, into Kursk.

Russia's senior officials have repeatedly said its troops, under a "counterterrorism operation" led by the federal security service, the FSB, have halted Ukrainian gains. This narrative has been contradicted by a number of Russia's influential military bloggers, Ukrainian sources and Western analysis.

Moscow's defense ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had launched aerial and artillery strikes on Ukrainian forces around Korenovo, as well as in Borki—a border settlement southwest of Sudzha—and east of Korenovo.

Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. had seen signs that Russia had moved "a small number of forces" to Kursk to battle against Ukraine's advance. "Generally speaking, though, Russia has really struggled to respond, and you continue to see some Ukrainian advances," Ryder added.

Zelensky said at the weekend that Ukraine's "primary task" was to "destroy as much Russian war potential as possible" and carve out a buffer zone in Kursk. Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday that the Defense Department had gained "more clarity" in recent days of Ukraine's intentions in Kursk.

Ukraine has zeroed in on Russian logistics propping up the war effort in Ukraine, including targeting several bridges over the River Seym snaking through Kursk in the past week and forcing Russia to turn to pontoon bridges to keep its forces supplied.

Ukraine is using first person-view, or FPV, drones to strike Russian engineering equipment in the region around the river, disrupting pontoon bridges, several prominent Russian military bloggers said on Tuesday.

The neighboring Belgorod region, next to Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, has declared a federal state of emergency following the incursion.

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