Over 100 Russian troops have been captured by Ukrainian forces as Kyiv extends gains at one mile a day amid the ongoing cross-border Kursk incursion, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said in a post published on Telegram that Kyiv's troops are moving "further" into Kursk: "In the Kursk region, we are moving further. From one to two kilometers in different areas from the beginning of the day. And more than 100 captured Russian soldiers during the same period. I am grateful to everyone involved. This will speed up the return home of our boys and girls."
It comes as Russia has said peace talks with Ukraine are "on a long pause" amid the incursion.
The Russian Foreign Ministry's special envoy Rodion Miroshnik said on Wednesday that peace talks will be halted after Ukraine's surprise assault on Kursk, according to Russian state agency TASS.
Thousands of Ukrainian troops entered Kursk more than a week ago, launching the most significant ground offensive into Russian territory since Putin's forces launched a full-scale invasion into it's neighboring country.
The head of the district, Andrei Belousov, told RIA Novosti the situation remains increasingly "tense."
"Most of the residents have already left, but we continue to take them out—we have empty buses, we take people with limited mobility out in cars," Belousov said.
A second border region declared a state of emergency after Ukraine launched a bombshell assault on Russian territory.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: "We are making a decision to declare a regional emergency situation throughout the Belgorod region with a subsequent appeal to the government to declare a federal emergency."
In a video published on his Telegram channel, Gladkov said there had been "daily shellings" in the region by Ukraine's armed forces, which had destroyed houses and wounded and killed civilians. The Belgorod region is adjacent to Kursk.
War-torn Ukraine launched a flurry of rockets and a barrage of missiles on the Kursk region last night, a week after its surprise offensive.
Moscow has begun withdrawing troops from parts of Ukraine to assist with repelling Kyiv's forces, according to a New York Times report.
Lithuania's defense minister, Laurynas Kasciunas, said on Tuesday that Russia was transporting troops from Kaliningrad to Kursk.
Dmytro Lykhoviy, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, claimed that Russia had moved some units from the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia.
"We have intelligence information about the redeployment of some units of the occupying forces from the Prydniprovsk and Zaporizhzhia directions to areas more threatened by the Russians. However, as of now, the intensity of hostilities in our operational zone has not changed dramatically.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
On Tuesday, military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in Russia's Kursk region on a video call between the two leaders.
Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops were continuing to advance in the region and had taken control of 40 square kilometers (15.4 square miles) of territory.
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