Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov estimated the number of Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, at around 1,000.
At least 100 of them have been killed and 215 wounded, Gerasimov said in a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, broadcast by the Kremlin on the Telegram news channel on Wednesday.
The Kremlin said Putin had been briefed on the situation in the region. There was no information on casualties on the Russian side.
According to Gerasimov, the Ukrainian advance had been stopped.
“The operation will end with the destruction of the enemy and the return to the state border,” he said.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow had said on Tuesday that there had been no breakthrough from the Ukrainian side. Now the army has admitted that units have entered Russian territory.
Russian military bloggers said the advance continued 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 border villages embroiled in fighting since Tuesday, leaving at least three dead and more than 20 wounded.
