KYIV: Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday Kyiv controls around 1,000 sq km of Russia’s Kursk region, in his first comment on the shock cross-border incursion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy published a video excerpt of Syrskyi’s report on Telegram. Zelenskiy said he ordered the preparation of a “humanitarian plan” for the area.
Meanwhile, Russian state media quoted the governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, as saying that Ukrainian forces had used shells containing chemical weapons during their incursion there.
It was not clear if Smirnov had produced any evidence to support the accusation, which Reuters was unable to verify.
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) said Russia was trying to falsely accuse Kyiv’s military of war crimes.
The SBU said it had information showing Russia might stage crimes for which it would blame Ukraine.