The Fort Worth Press - Ukraine says 'strengthening' positions in Russia

USD -
AED 3.67298
AFN 67.732769
ALL 92.653778
AMD 386.383589
ANG 1.793612
AOA 912.501611
ARS 998.494795
AUD 1.536287
AWG 1.7975
AZN 1.700282
BAM 1.846296
BBD 2.009412
BDT 118.926471
BGN 1.84705
BHD 0.376874
BIF 2939.110734
BMD 1
BND 1.337959
BOB 6.877118
BRL 5.747897
BSD 0.995167
BTN 83.976834
BWP 13.577578
BYN 3.256459
BYR 19600
BZD 2.006013
CAD 1.402025
CDF 2870.000086
CHF 0.88375
CLF 0.035257
CLP 972.850076
CNY 7.237496
CNH 7.235985
COP 4397
CRC 506.839358
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.091342
CZK 23.876899
DJF 177.218297
DKK 7.046741
DOP 59.963561
DZD 133.399146
EGP 49.397497
ERN 15
ETB 123.19576
EUR 0.94466
FJD 2.26865
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.78921
GEL 2.724991
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.87354
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000217
GNF 8576.337427
GTQ 7.688967
GYD 208.211005
HKD 7.782365
HNL 25.139006
HRK 7.133259
HTG 130.736045
HUF 383.950073
IDR 15821
ILS 3.732145
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.40635
IQD 1303.760903
IRR 42092.496392
ISK 136.490346
JEP 0.789317
JMD 157.953365
JOD 0.709096
JPY 154.412003
KES 129.450413
KGS 86.520749
KHR 4021.485684
KMF 464.749962
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1391.540247
KWD 0.30747
KYD 0.829306
KZT 496.568521
LAK 21864.232378
LBP 89121.220417
LKR 289.952894
LRD 182.618875
LSL 18.023902
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.860688
MAD 9.964411
MDL 18.083469
MGA 4652.040932
MKD 58.130857
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 7.979723
MRU 39.679603
MUR 46.280066
MVR 15.459935
MWK 1725.746004
MXN 20.222435
MYR 4.469014
MZN 63.925008
NAD 18.023902
NGN 1667.789356
NIO 36.627616
NOK 11.010599
NPR 134.362934
NZD 1.698009
OMR 0.385014
PAB 0.995176
PEN 3.78284
PGK 4.003549
PHP 58.691013
PKR 276.467168
PLN 4.080092
PYG 7756.899506
QAR 3.629532
RON 4.700496
RSD 110.516173
RUB 99.751389
RWF 1367.129236
SAR 3.754014
SBD 8.36952
SCR 13.738475
SDG 601.501917
SEK 10.918105
SGD 1.33887
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.650411
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 568.77183
SRD 35.404997
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.708417
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.017219
THB 34.580219
TJS 10.589063
TMT 3.5
TND 3.145538
TOP 2.342101
TRY 34.611815
TTD 6.756285
TWD 32.432017
TZS 2653.981982
UAH 41.216346
UGX 3654.265512
UYU 42.678725
UZS 12750.752849
VES 45.731921
VND 25407.5
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 619.22752
XAG 0.031909
XAU 0.000381
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.757089
XOF 619.224597
XPF 112.582719
YER 249.849951
ZAR 17.95734
ZMK 9001.195576
ZMW 27.443206
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    0.0540

    24.624

    +0.22%

  • BCC

    1.4500

    141.54

    +1.02%

  • NGG

    0.1500

    62.9

    +0.24%

  • RIO

    1.1400

    62.12

    +1.84%

  • GSK

    0.3400

    33.69

    +1.01%

  • CMSD

    -0.0500

    24.39

    -0.21%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.2

    -0.23%

  • BCE

    0.4100

    27.23

    +1.51%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    13.23

    +0.98%

  • RYCEF

    0.0800

    6.93

    +1.15%

  • BTI

    0.2900

    36.68

    +0.79%

  • RBGPF

    59.7500

    59.75

    +100%

  • AZN

    0.1600

    63.39

    +0.25%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.42

    +1.5%

  • RELX

    0.5900

    45.04

    +1.31%

  • VOD

    0.1500

    8.92

    +1.68%

Ukraine says 'strengthening' positions in Russia
Ukraine says 'strengthening' positions in Russia / Photo: © AFP

Ukraine says 'strengthening' positions in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday his forces were "strengthening" their positions in Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive for more than 11 days.

Text size:

His comments came a day after Moscow accused Ukraine of destroying a key bridge over a river in the border region, as Kyiv seeks to disrupt supply routes and the movement of Moscow's troops in the area.

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrsky "reported on the strengthening of the positions of our forces in the Kursk region and the expansion of stabilised territory", Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.

"As of this morning, we have replenished the exchange fund for our country," Zelensky said, referring to Russian soldiers Ukraine has captured to be used in future prisoner swaps.

"I thank all the soldiers and commanders who are taking Russian soldiers prisoner and thus bringing the release of our soldiers and civilians held by Russia closer," Zelensky said.

Kyiv claims to have taken control of more than 80 settlements in the lightning incursion, which caught the Kremlin off guard almost two and a half years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it had pushed back Ukrainian forces near three settlements in the Kursk region, and was searching for "mobile enemy groups" trying to pierce deeper into the country.

- Bridge 'completely destroyed' -

Russian officials on Friday accused Ukraine of striking a strategically important bridge just a couple dozen kilometres away from fighting in the Kursk region.

The region's governor, Alexei Smirnov, said on Friday evening the bridge was in the Glushkovsky district, some 11 kilometres (seven miles) away from the border.

An aerial video published by Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk appeared to show the bridge being hit by a projectile at high speed before collapsing in a cloud of smoke.

"Ukrainian pilots are conducting precision strikes on enemy strongholds, equipment concentrations, as well as on enemy logistics centres and supply routes," he said on Telegram.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the bridge was "completely destroyed" and that "volunteers providing assistance to the evacuated civilian population were killed".

"All those responsible for these inhumane acts will be severely punished," she said.

Russia separately accused Ukraine on Saturday of dropping an explosive charge on a road near the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

The plant, which was seized by Russia's forces early in the war, has come under repeated attacks that both sides have accused each other of carrying out.

Russia meanwhile attacked at least four Ukrainian regions on Saturday, according to officials, including the northeastern region of Kharkiv, where prosecutors said shelling killed a 49-year-old woman.

- 'Under control' -

While the incursion has delivered a major morale boost to Kyiv, it appears to have had little impact on the larger battles raging in Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine.

Zelensky said on Saturday there had been "dozens of Russian assaults" on Ukrainian positions near the towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, where Moscow has made a string of advances in recent weeks.

"Our soldiers and units are doing everything to destroy the occupier and repel the attacks," Zelensky said, stressing the situation was "under control".

Russia said Friday its forces had captured another village near Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian-held logistics hub that lies on a road supplying troops and towns across the eastern front.

Russian forces have been inching towards the town for months, taking a string of tiny villages over the past weeks.

The head of Pokrovsk's military administration, Sergiy Dobryak, warned on Thursday that Russia was a little over 10 kilometres from the outskirts of the city and urged remaining residents to evacuate.

M.Cunningham--TFWP