KYIV: Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk border region, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday.

The governor of the Kursk region, where Ukraine is mounting a week-long incursion, previously said Monday that Ukraine controls 28 settlements.

“There are 74 settlements under the control of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

The president said that “despite difficult, intense fighting, the advance of our forces in the Kursk region continues.”

Russian army concedes Ukraine advances in Kursk offensive

Zelensky said that Ukraine has been able to “replenish” its numbers of Russian POWs to exchange for its own troops and “preparation for our next steps continues”.

He posted footage showing him holding a video call with military chief Oleksandr Syrsky.

Syrsky tells him: “As of today, our troops have advanced in some areas by 1 to 3 kilometres.”

In the last day, Ukraine has taken control of “40 square kilometres of territory”, Syrsky adds, after saying Monday that the troops hold around 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory.

“Fighting is ongoing along the entire front line. The situation is under control despite the high intensity of fighting,” Syrsky said.