Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 12, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on Sunday that it was designed "to put pressure on the aggressor Russia" and to push "the war into the aggressor's territory." Russian official Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the Kursk region, told a solemn-looking Putin via videoconference Monday that Ukraine controlled 28 settlements. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said geolocated footage suggests Ukraine controls a higher number of around 40 settlements, as of Monday. Russia caught off guardPresident Putin vowed on Monday a "worthy response" to Ukraine's border raid, just as 11,000 more civilians were evacuated in Kursk's neighboring region Belgorod, due to "enemy activity."

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Persons: Roman Pilipey, Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Alexei Smirnov, Putin, Gavriil Grigorov, Kostiantyn Liberov, Liberov Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, Institute for, Sputnik, Ukrainian, United, Reuters, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Anadolu, Employees, Russian Emergencies Ministry Locations: Soviet, Sumy, Russia, Ukraine, Roman, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Kursk, Russian, Novo, Ogaryovo, Moscow, Kherson, Kharkiv, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Kursk's, Belgorod, Kursk Oblast, Oryol