Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia must "feel" the consequences of its war as a major Ukrainian incursion across the Russian border entered its third day.
On Tuesday morning, pro-Kiev forces swept into Russia's southwestern Kursk region, deploying about 1,000 troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks, according to the Russian military.
It appears to be the most significant Ukrainian attack into Russia since the start of the war, with independent analysts suggesting that Kiev troops have advanced within 10 km. into Russia.
"Russia brought the war to our land and must feel what it has done," Zelensky said in his evening address, without directly mentioning the offensive.
"Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals. And we did not choose to achieve our goals in the war," he added.
Russia's defense ministry said its troops "continue to destroy" armed Ukrainian units and are using airstrikes, rocket and artillery fire to try to push them back.
It said it had brought in reserves and was "thwarting attempts to break through" further into the Kursk region.
The independent US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukraine had made significant territorial gains in the first two days of the invasion.
"Ukrainian forces have confirmed their advance to 10 km in Russia's Kursk region amid ongoing mechanized offensive operations on Russian territory," the report's latest update said.
"The currently confirmed scope and location of Ukrainian offensives in the Kursk region indicate that Ukrainian forces have penetrated at least two Russian defense lines and one stronghold," they added.
Kiev has not officially claimed responsibility for the operation, but an aide to Zelensky said Moscow was to blame for the incursion.
"The main reason for any escalation, shelling, military actions, forced evacuation and destruction of normal forms of life - including on the territory of the Russian Federation itself such as Kursk and Belgorod region - is only Russia's unequivocal aggression," the presidential aide said on social networks Mikhail Podolyak.
Without mentioning the Kursk attacks, Zelensky said: "The more pressure we put on Russia, the closer we will be to peace. Just peace through just force."
Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a "large-scale provocation" by Kiev, and on Wednesday Russia's top general vowed to crush the invasion. I BGNES
