Moscow, 7 August 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The chief of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, put the number of Ukrainian soldiers fighting inside Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, at up to 1,000.

At least 100 of them have now been killed and 215 injured, Gerasimov said in a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin broadcast by the Kremlin on its Telegram news channel on Wednesday.

The Kremlin said Putin was briefed on the situation in the region. There was no information on casualties on the Russian side.

The Ukrainian advance had been stopped, Gerasimov claimed.

"The operation will end with the destruction of the enemy and the return to the state border," he said.

The Ministry of Defence in Moscow had said on Tuesday that there had been no breakthrough from the Ukrainian side. now the military has admitted that units have entered Russian territory.

Russian military bloggers said that the advance was continuing and that 11 villages were also under enemy control. This was neither officially confirmed nor independently verifiable.

According to Russian authorities, thousands of civilians have fled the border villages caught up in the fighting since Tuesday, with at least three killed and more than 20 injured.

Photo: MIA archive