Zelensky hails Kursk success as Russia rules out peace talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed his forces' success in their surprise offensive into Russia's territory, an advance that triggered the Kremlin to rule out entering peace talks with Kyiv.

Ukraine sent troops and tanks over the border on August 6, piercing several kilometers into Russia's Kursk region, where they are holding onto a chunk of territory.

The biggest attack on Russian soil since World War II has rattled Moscow and taken Ukraine's Western allies by surprise.

Zelensky said on Monday that the incursion was achieving Kyiv's objectives, which officials have previously said included stretching Russian forces, creating a "buffer zone" and bringing the war "closer" to an end on "fair" terms.

But Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Kyiv's attack had pushed the prospect of peace talks further away.

"At the current stage, given this escapade, we will not talk," he said Monday.

He called entering a negotiating process "completely inappropriate" and said future talks "depend on the situation on the battlefield, including in the Kursk region."

Moscow, intent on not letting the offensive affect its own advance in eastern Ukraine, claimed another village in the war-battered Donetsk region on Monday.

And bracing for a further assault, Ukraine ordered the evacuation of families from the key city of Pokrovsk as Moscow's forces inched closer to the logistics hub.

In Kursk, Zelensky's troops have set up administrative offices and published previously unthinkable footage of Ukrainian soldiers patrolling Russian streets.

"We are achieving our goals. This morning, we have another replenishment of the (prisoner of war) exchange fund for our country," Zelensky said, referring to more Russian troops being taken captive.

On Sunday, he said the push into Russian territory was designed to create a "buffer zone."

AFP