Ukrainian troops now up to 30km inside Russia, says Moscow

Moscow [Russia]/Kiev [Ukraine], August 12: Ukrainian troops have advanced up to 30km inside Russia, in what has become the deepest and most significant incursion since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had engaged Ukrainian troops near the villages of Tolpino and Obshchy Kolodez, as the offensive in the Kursk region entered a sixth day.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Kiev of "intimidating the peaceful population of Russia".
Overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky directly acknowledged the attack for the first time, saying Ukraine was pushing the war to "the aggressor's territory".
"Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and ensure the necessary pressure on the aggressor," Zelensky told the country in his nightly address from Kiev.
He went on to thank Ukraine's "warriors" and said he had discussed the operation in Russia with the country's top military commander - Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi.
A senior Ukrainian official told the AFP news agency that thousands of troops were engaged in the operation, far more than the small incursion initially reported by Russian border guards.
Also on Sunday, Zelensky again called on Ukraine's allies to lift restrictions on how Kiev can use the long-range weapons supplied by the West, after a deadly Russian airstrike near Kiev killed a father and son.
Zelensky said that North Korean missiles may have been used in the attack. "The Russians have no geographical restrictions on the use of such weapons: Since the first days of the full-scale war, the entire territory of our state has been under constant threat of attack," Zelensky wrote on X on Sunday.
"When Ukraine's long-range capabilities have no limits, this war will definitely have a limit: We will truly bring its just end closer." Ukraine is not allowed to use Western weapons to fire on targets deep inside Russian territory, in part because leaders in Europe and the United States fear it could draw them into the war.
While Ukrainian-backed sabotage groups have launched intermittent cross-border incursions, the Kursk offensive marks the biggest co-ordinated attack on Russian territory by Kiev's conventional forces.
Source: Qatar Tribune