KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Moscow had attempted to push back Ukrainian positions in the Russian Kursk region but that Kyiv was “holding the line.”

Ukraine has held on to swathes of Russia’s Kursk region since early August.

“Regarding the Kursk operation, there were attempts by Russia to push back our positions, but we are holding the lines,” Zelensky said.

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Russia earlier this week said it had recaptured two villages in the Kursk region, and vowed to continue to push Ukrainian forces out of its territory.

Ukraine has said its offensive is intended to create a buffer zone in the region to stop shelling of its border areas.

Zelensky also acknowledged that the situation for Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk region and southern Zaporizhzhia region was “very difficult”.

Kyiv said earlier that Russian attacks Saturday had killed two people in the eastern Donetsk region: a 19-year-old travelling in a civilian car and an 84-year-old pensioner.