UPDATE 1-Ukraine's top commander says Kursk operation working, no Russian advance in east

Ukraine's top military commander said in an interview broadcast on Thursday that Kyiv's incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region was working and that there had been no Russian advances on a key sector of the eastern front for six days. Ukraine's military poured into the Kursk region last month and says it has captured dozens of settlements.

Ukraine's top military commander said in an interview broadcast on Thursday that Kyiv's incursion into Russia's southern Kursk region was working and that there had been no Russian advances on a key sector of the eastern front for six days.

Ukraine's military poured into the Kursk region last month and says it has captured dozens of settlements. Meanwhile, Russia's forces have been moving forward slowly on the eastern front in Ukraine's Donetsk region, particularly near the town of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, interviewed by CNN, said the Russian advances had been stopped.

"Over the last six days, the enemy hasn't advanced a single metre in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working," he said. The Kursk incursion, he said, had "significantly improved the morale of not only the military, but the entire Ukrainian population".

His comments contrasted with those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said earlier on Thursday that the Kursk incursion had failed to slow Moscow's advance in eastern Ukraine. Syrskyi said the Ukrainian military had noted a decrease in shelling and in the intensity of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"Of course, the enemy has concentrated its most trained units in the Pokrovsk area. But we have taken away their ability to manoeuvre and to deploy their reinforcements from other sectors," he said. "The Pokrovsk sector remains the most problematic for us, whereas the situation has stabilised in other areas. So I think the strategy was chosen correctly and it will bring us the desired result."

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Ukrainian troops were holding their positions in Kursk "and with each day of the operation we are proving to the world that Russia can lose this war".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)