REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
Independent analysis also pointed to Ukraine controlling a growing amount of Russian territory.
France’s AFP agency reported that Ukraine controlled at least 308 square miles of Russian territory as of Monday, citing its analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank.
It wasn’t certain exactly how the Ukrainian side was defining the 74 settlements it claimed to control.
The ISW said in its update on Tuesday that “it is unclear if Zelensky meant that Ukrainian forces are operating in 74 settlements or if he was referring to another type of geographic administrative unit.”
It said it could be sure that Ukraine was operating in around 41 settlements, noting that there were some other “extremely small” ones it did not count.
Kommersant Photo/Anatoliy Zhdanov via REUTERS
Ukraine’s attack appeared to take Russia off guard, prompting anger and recrimination from the Russian nationalist bloggers who provide much of the domestic commentary on the war in the absence of free media.
A Ukrainian deputy commander said the soldiers protecting Russia’s borders “were mainly kids doing their mandatory service.”
Ukrainian troops told the BBC that they were able to enter Kursk easily.
Ukraine has stayed largely tight-lipped about the operation, and officials have not stated a motivation for the advance into Russia.
But experts told Business Insider that its motivations could include wanting to stretch Russia’s resources in Ukraine, showing its strengths to Western backers, giving its weary troops a morale boost, and trying to secure bargaining chips that it can use with Russia.
The US, a major ally of Ukraine, has largely been quiet about Ukraine’s operation. But it has also been unsympathetic to Russia’s complaints about the attack.
John Kirby, the US’s national security communications advisor, said on Monday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin is worried by the advance, “there’s an easy solution: He can just get the hell out of Ukraine and call it a day.”