Ukraine Announces Establishment of Military Office Inside Russian Territory

Military Office

KYIV: Ukraine’s top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced on Thursday that Kyiv had established a military commandant’s office within the occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region.

This significant move comes as Ukrainian forces continue their advance, even as Russian troops intensify their offensives in Ukraine’s eastern territories.

Syrskyi’s statement marks the most assertive indication yet that Ukraine is not only making advances but is also preparing to establish a foothold in Russian territory following a rapid cross-border assault last week.

This surprise offensive has opened a new front in the ongoing conflict, which has now spanned over two and a half years.

“We are moving forward in the Kursk region. A military commandant’s office has been established to ensure order and address the needs of the local population,” Syrskyi said in a written statement posted on his Telegram channel. He added that Major General Eduard Moskalyov would head the newly established office.

The Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory caught Moscow off guard, effectively seizing the initiative from Kremlin forces that had been steadily gaining ground in eastern Ukraine over the past year. Notably, Russia currently occupies about 18% of Ukrainian territory.

In a video conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian forces had advanced 35 kilometers (22 miles) into the Kursk region, capturing 82 settlements and an area of 1,150 square kilometers (444 square miles).

This claim significantly exceeds the estimate of 480 square kilometers provided by the acting regional governor of Kursk earlier in the week. The Ukrainian advance represents the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II, dramatically shifting perceptions of Ukraine’s military capabilities.

Zelenskiy, who alluded to further strategic actions during public remarks earlier in the week, hinted at the possibility of additional offensives on Russian soil.

“We must ensure that our warriors participating in the Kursk operation, and in all future actions on the territory of the aggressor state, receive all the payments and benefits designated for frontline service,” he said in an address on Telegram.

In response to the Ukrainian advance, Russia acknowledged that Kyiv’s forces remained on the offensive and announced plans to strengthen its border defenses.

Measures include improving command and control, deploying additional forces, and enhancing security across the border regions of Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod—an area equivalent in size to Portugal.

Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces operating in Kursk, described the situation as tense, noting that Ukrainian forces were making persistent attempts to break through Russian defenses.

“The enemy is pushing, trying to get through from everywhere,” Alaudinov said, although he claimed that Ukrainian forces were losing strength daily.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov confirmed that the general staff had developed a series of measures to bolster defenses in the border regions.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to deliver a “worthy response” to Ukraine’s incursion, warning that the use of Western-supplied weapons on Russian territory would be considered a severe escalation.

Despite the significant advance into the Kursk region, Syrskyi acknowledged that the pace of progress had slowed. He reported that Ukrainian forces had gained between 500 meters and 1.5 kilometers in the last 24 hours, compared to the 1 to 2 kilometers achieved the previous day.

Meanwhile, on the eastern front within Ukraine’s borders, there has been no respite from Russian military pressure. Ukrainian officials reported the heaviest fighting in weeks near the city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub.

The head of Pokrovsk’s military administration issued a warning to residents, urging them to evacuate as Russian forces closed in on the city, now just over 10 kilometers from its outskirts.

In his video report to President Zelenskiy, Syrskyi described the situation in the east and south, where Russia has already captured large swathes of territory, as “difficult but under control.”

He emphasized that the main efforts were focused on preventing Russian advances towards Toretsk and Pokrovsk, inflicting maximum losses on the enemy, and creating favorable conditions for future operations.