KYIV
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed his forces\u2019 success in their surprise offensive into Russia\u2019s territory, an advance that triggered the Kremlin to rule out entering peace talks with Kyiv.
\nUkraine sent troops and tanks over the border on August 6, piercing several kilometers into Russia\u2019s Kursk region, where they are holding onto a chunk of territory.
\nThe biggest attack on Russian soil since World War II has rattled Moscow and taken Ukraine\u2019s Western allies by surprise.
\nZelensky on Monday said the incursion was achieving Kyiv\u2019s objectives, which officials have previously said include stretching Russian forces, creating a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d and bringing the war \u201ccloser\u201d to an end on \u201cfair\u201d terms. But Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Kyiv\u2019s attack had pushed the prospect of peace talks further away.
\n\u201cAt the current stage, given this escapade, we will not talk,\u201d he said Monday.
\nHe called entering a negotiating process \u201ccompletely inappropriate\u201d and said future talks \u201cdepend on the situation on the battlefield, including in the Kursk region.\u201d
\nMoscow, intent on not letting the offensive affect its own advance in eastern Ukraine, claimed another village in the war-battered Donetsk region on Monday.
\nAnd bracing for a further assault, Ukraine ordered the evacuation of families from the key city of Pokrovsk as Moscow\u2019s forces inched closer to the logistics hub.
\nIn Kursk, Zelensky\u2019s troops have set up administrative offices and published previously unthinkable footage of Ukrainian soldiers patrolling Russian streets.
\n\u201cWe are achieving our goals. This morning we have another replenishment of the (prisoner of war) exchange fund for our country,\u201d Zelensky said, referring to more Russian troops being taken captive.
\nOn Sunday, he said the push into Russian territory was designed to create a \u201cbuffer zone.\u201d
\nThe prospect of peace talks appeared distant even before Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia.
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin had demanded Ukraine cede swathes of territory if it wanted a ceasefire.
\nZelensky, who has ruled out direct talks with the Kremlin, demands Russia\u2019s full withdrawal from Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, and reparations.
\nSeeking to give impetus to a possible settlement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on Friday, officials in New Delhi and Kyiv said.
\nModi recently visited Moscow, is close with Putin and has made no secret of his desire to bring about an end to the conflict.
\nMeanwhile, Ukraine was pushing on Monday with its Kursk offensive.
\nA third bridge over the Seym river inside Russia was hit over the weekend, a Russian military investigator said in a video published by high-profile pro-Kremlin TV commentator Vladimir Solovyov.
\nIt has left Russia with limited supply options, according to Russian military bloggers.
\nMoscow\u2019s defense ministry said Russia had thwarted Ukrainian attacks on three more villages.
\nThe incursion has visibly worried Russians, prompting some in Kyiv to hope that sentiment could turn the country against the Kremlin\u2019s more than two-year war.
\n\u201cAccustomed to seeing the war as a television show, Russians are now seeing it up close and personal,\u201d Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed his forces\u2019 success in their surprise offensive into Russia\u2019s territory, an advance that triggered the Kremlin to rule out entering peace talks with Kyiv. Ukraine sent troops and tanks over the border on August 6, piercing several kilometers into Russia\u2019s Kursk region, where they are holding onto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-425958","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n