The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said this evening that Russia had launched nearly 2,000 cross-border shelling from Russia’s Kursk region into Ukraine’s Sumy province since the start of the summer, which the Ukrainian president said deserved a “fair” Ukrainian response.

“Artillery, mortars, drones. Also missile attacks and every such blow deserves a fair response,” the Ukrainian leader stressed in his daily televised message.

Last night Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said publicly for the first time that Ukrainian forces are fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, saying the operation is part of Kiev’s move to restore justice after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces are trying for a sixth straight day to push back Ukrainian troops who invaded Kursk, in the biggest such effort by Kiev’s forces since the start of the war.

The Russian military confirmed today that Ukrainian troops had advanced deep into the Kursk region, saying it had halted their advance near several communities within 30 kilometers of the Ukrainian border.

During the night of Saturday to Sunday, at least thirteen people were injured, due to the fall of rocket debris launched by the armed forces of Ukraine on a nine-story apartment building in the city of Kursk.

Russia vowed today to retaliate against recent Ukrainian strikes.