Ukraine takes over 1,000 square kms of Kursk region in Russia

Ukraine's top commander said on Monday Kyiv controlled around 1,000sq-km of Russia's Kursk region, his first public comments since Ukraine launched its biggest cross-border attack in almost two-and-a-half years of full-scale war.

With Russia still struggling to repel the incursion seven days after it began, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy published a video clip of Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of his armed forces, delivering a report on the fighting.

"We continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region. Currently, we control about 1,000sq-km of the territory of the Russian Federation," he said.

Zelenskiy said the meeting of top-level officials had ordered the preparation of a "humanitarian plan" for the area.

Russia's acting governor of Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, said Ukraine controlled 28 settlements, and the incursion was about 12km deep and 40km wide.

In a statement, the Ukrainian leader said the defence ministry and diplomats have been ordered to present a list of "necessary actions" needed to secure permission from Kyiv's Western allies to use long-range weapons for strikes on Russia.

Defence Minister Rustem Umerov urged Paris earlier on Monday to lift the ban on Western weapons strikes on military targets in Russia during a call with French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu, the Ukrainian readout said.