Russian President Vladimir Putin received an update from top army generals at an undisclosed command centre about strategies to counter Ukrainian forces that invaded the Kursk region earlier this month. 

No details were released about what was discussed, but the Kremlin said that Putin also listened to telephone updates from commanders of the troop groups involved in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the operational situation in the areas entrusted to them.

Also on Saturday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence released footage of what it says is a Ka-52 helicopter attacking Ukrainian positions in Kursk.

Again the ministry gave no details about the Kremlin’s efforts to drive Ukraine’s forces out of the border region.

Ukraine launched the surprise offensive into Kursk on 6 August, with Kyiv later saying the incursion aimed to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks from Russia on Ukrainian territory.

In a speech marking Independence Day in the capital, Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed his country’s resolve to regain its “territorial integrity.”

“We will do everything to force Putin to end this war diplomatically, so that there will be less loss of people in front of everything and time. But if we do not succeed, if our partners crumble and do not stand firmly against Putin’s aggression and against him as a thief, then we will do everything so that our army is ready to justly push Putin out of the territory of our state,” he said.

Those comments came during a news conference held with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, discussing the Kursk operation.

“Russia can stop all these operations, in Kursk, anywhere. It can just withdraw, stop the war, and then we will come back to peaceful coexistence and peaceful restoration and peaceful life. So it’s up to Putin to stop the operation Kursk,” said Šimonytė.