Russia ‘pauses’ Ukraine’s incursion; Kyiv says 74 areas in its control, but occupation not the goal – Times of India

KYIV: Russia said Tuesday that its forces checked an effort by Ukrainian troops to expand a stunning weeklong incursion into the Kursk region, as a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory. Russian army units, including fresh reserves, aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces, stopped Ukrainian armoured mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia near the Kursk settlements of Obshchy Kolodez, Snagost, Kauchuk and Alexeyevsky, a Russian defence ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk.”Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people,” he said, adding that Russia had launched over 2,000 strikes from the Kursk region in recent months. The commander of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Ukraine now controls 74 settlements in Kursk region. “Ukrainian troops have continued to advance, gaining control over 40sqkm of territory in the past 24 hours.”