KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned Moscow's latest deadly attack on civilian areas of Kyiv and urged his Western allies to lift restrictions on the use of weapons deep inside of Russia, even as he for the first time indirectly acknowledged his forces' cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.
"The Russians have no geographical restrictions on the use of such weapons -- since the first days of the full-scale war, the entire territory of our state has been under constant threat of attack," Zelenskiy wrote on X on August 11.
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"Ukrainians are deeply grateful to all our partners who provide us with air defense systems and combat aircraft. However, to truly stop Russian terror, we need…strong decisions from our partners -- decisions that will lift restrictions on our defensive actions."
"When Ukraine’s long-range capabilities have no limits, this war will definitely have a limit -- we will truly bring its just end closer," he wrote.
Late on August 10, Zelenskiy indirectly confirmed what Russian military bloggers and Western news agencies had reported on Ukrainian forces' advances inside Russia’s Kursk region.
"Today, I received several reports from Commander-in-Chief [Oleksandr] Syrskiy regarding the front lines, our actions, and the push to drive the war onto the aggressor's territory."
Ukraine continued its six-day advance into the Kursk region, taking control of several smaller settlements, but it remained unclear if Kyiv's forces would attempt to take Kursk city, the regional capital of 415,000 people.
It also remains unclear how many Ukrainian troops are involved in the drive, with estimates ranging from 1,100 to "several thousand."
Russian officials have acknowledged the breach of the border and ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians in the area, but have referred to Kyiv’s troops in the region as "Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups."
Ukraine's surprise cross-border incursion in Kursk on August 6 has been described as the biggest attack on Russian soil since Moscow launched its unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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Video Shows Destroyed Russian Military Convoy In Kursk Region
Russia on August 10 announced that it had imposed what it called anti-terror measures in the Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that the measures included the possible evacuation of residents, limits on transport, beefed-up security around sensitive sites, and wire taps.
As tensions rose on August 11, Russian ally Belarus said it had begun transferring tanks to its border area with Ukraine after it claimed it had shot down several Ukrainian military drones over its airspace.
Belarus’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, ordered that reinforcements be sent to the border areas to respond to any "provocations" from Ukraine.
Russian forces launched missile attacks overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killing at least two people, Ukrainian authorities said on August 11.
SEE ALSO: Russian Forces Are Advancing In The Donbas. Ukraine's Response? Invade Russia.The State Emergency Service said a 35-year-old man and his 4-year-old son were found dead in the rubble of a building during search-and-rescue operations. Three others, including a 13-year-old child, were seriously wounded in the attack, it added.
Fragments of a missile fell on residential buildings in the Brovary district, neighboring the capital. Kyiv's military administration said the city's air-defense systems had been activated.
Five other regions were being attacked by Russian drones, according to Ukraine's air force.
Cities across Ukraine have been regularly hit by Russian air strikes from missiles and drones. There has been growing concern among many Ukrainians in recent days that Moscow might intensify its air raids in response to Kyiv's recent incursion into Russian territory.
In Russia, Kursk regional Governor Aleksei Smirnov said 13 people had been injured by debris from a downed Ukrainian missile that fell on a residential building during the night. Two of the injured were in serious condition, Smirnov said on August 11.
Residents of the nine-story building were to be evacuated to temporary accommodations, according to Igor Kutsak, mayor of the regional capital, Kursk city.
The whole city was under an air-raid alert, the official said on Telegram. He posted a photo that showed an apartment building with blown out windows and damaged balconies.
In the neighboring Voronezh region, Russian authorities claimed that debris from a downed Ukraine-launched drone damaged an administrative building and a utility facility in the provincial capital of the same name. There were no injuries, they added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on August 11 that its air-defense units destroyed 16 Ukrainian-lunched drones over the Voronezh region, while 14 drones and four Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles were downed over the Kursk region.
Three drones were downed over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, and one drone each was destroyed over the Bryansk and Orlov regions, the ministry said on Telegram.
The claims cannot be independently verified.